We Are Vengeance
by Rowena DeVandal
Summary: Part 4 of the Logan and Angela saga! Logan and Angela receive a warning from a friend, putting them on the path for revenge. AU, ignores X3, rated M for language and content. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:** I have quite a few of these notes, so please bear with me...:)

First off, i am breaking a cardinal rule of my own by posting this now...normally, i would never post a single chapter until the entire story was finished, so i could do a final read-through and make sure everything was just the way i want it...however, since i'm taking part in **NaNoWriMo** (National Novel Writing Month), which began today, i have to put this on hold until Dec. 1...the good news? It's already 20 chapters long and i've done a read-through of what i have...the bad news? I'm still gonna make you all wait between chapters, but i'm stretching it out to !GASP! four days between chapters...this will give me enough time to finish after NaNoWriMo is over...:)

Secondly, if what you are looking for is a story about all the X-Men and their exploits, i strongly suggest you go pick up a comic or watch the movies...This saga that i'm writing is an X-Men fic because it has Wolverine in it and the other X-Men are around from time to time...however, this is NOT a story about all of the X-Men...none of them are, not really...this is about Logan and my OC, Angela first and foremost...Another thing to keep in mind is that, although i DO use a lot of stuff from comic canon, the saga is firmly set in the movieverse...and if you watched any of the interviews with Bryan Singer on the first DVD, he says that the world is firmly based in reality, as though this is something that could happen in ten years, twenty years, whatever...SO, that means a) NO aliens, b) NO "cosmic forces" and c) NO Kitty will not wind up with her dragon (he is, after all, an alien and thus violates the alien thing)...

Lastly, this story and all the others prior to and after this one are very much AU, which as we all know means "alternate universe"...so canon characters may be older or younger than their comic/movie counterparts, canon storylines will be used as a means to move my story and may or may not follow canon and above all else, characters WILL grow as people...it is also important to note that "X-Men 3 - The Last Stand" has not happened and will probably never happen in my universe...it's not that i didn't like the movie, i just have nowhere to put that story...i may deal with some of the issues in the movie at some point, but as it stands now it simply never happened...

This is the fourth part of a much larger saga...if you have not read "Torn Asunder", "Devil Inside" and "The Paragon of Animals", i strongly suggest you go back and do so, otherwise this story may not make sense...

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing that is blatantly from the X-Men comics or movies...this includes Logan, a fact which causes me to break down and weep like a baby if i think about it too much...Marvel and 20th Century Fox own them...However i DO own Angela, Evie, Buzz, Chasca, Kyro, Simon, Seth, Sarah (Medusa), Peter (Phantom), Sam (Atlas) and Terrence Bennington and a few others i can't remember right offhand, along with a bunch of people who exist just long enough to get killed here and there...i am making no money off of this and have nothing to sue me for anyway unless my killer collection of Homies counts...

**So, without further ado, dear readers, here is the next installment of the ongoing saga of Logan and Angela. Enjoy!**

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**We Are Vengeance**

Prologue

(Logan)

"…Happy birthday dear Evie! Happy birthday to you!"

A cheer went up along with a smattering of applause as the entire school helped my daughter celebrate her first birthday. In direct contrast to the day she was born, it was warm and sunny with only a few clouds skidding across the sky. It was absolutely perfect.

Evie was currently perched on her "Uncle" Charles' lap, grabbing at his tie and trying desperately to chew on it. He suffered this treatment gladly, doting on her like she was his own. Of course, when it was time to change her, he'd pass her off just as quickly as any blood relative would have. But he'd been there the night she was born and knew how close we'd come to losing her completely. Stuff like that tends to inspire closeness in people.

"Evie, it's time to blow out your candle." He said softly, nudging her forward. "Make a wish."

"Wish!" She cried and made another grab for his tie. She'd actually said her first word a little early, at about ten months. I'm damned proud to say that it was "Dada", which frustrated Angela to no end. Since then, she'd taken to repeating the last word of any sentence that anyone said to her. Angela didn't speak to me for almost two days when she learned the word "shit". Yeah, that was my fault. At least it wasn't "fuck".

Charles made another attempt to get her to blow out her candle by lifting her slightly and leaning forward with her. "Come on, Evie. Make a wish so we can have cake."

"Cake!" She shouted and together, they blew it out. More applause erupted from those who were gathered around.

Charles smiled as he handed her to me. "Little one, I believe cake is a wish I can grant with no problem." He said as he picked up a knife. He started cutting into her cake and made sure he handed the first piece to me. "Make sure she eats more of that than she wears."

"Wish me luck." I replied.

"Luck!" Evie said and grabbed at my nose. I grinned and pulled her tiny hand away from my face, kissing her delicate fingers. I heard a snicker behind me and turned around with a scowl.

"What's so funny, Popsicle?" I asked Bobby Drake, who was attempting to smother his laughter.

"Oh, nothing." He replied, still smirking. "Nothing at all."

"Yeah, you just see that it stays that way, bub."

"Bub!" Even I had to laugh at that one.

"You tell him, punkin." I said and she giggled and made a grab for the cake.

A couple hours later, Angela came and took her away from me to put her down for her nap. Although she was wearing precious little cake when she came for Evie, the same could not be said for me. But I did manage to get all the icing out of my hair before anyone saw me. The rest of us continued to enjoy the afternoon; some of the kids were on the basketball court while others were lounging about in the grass or splashing in the reflecting pool. I shook my head in disbelief, not for the first time. Only three years ago, I'd tried to leave this place and never look back. It had been a chance meeting in a hole-in-the-wall bar in Detroit that changed all that, the day Angela came back into my life. Now I couldn't imagine my life being anything other than what it was.

I settled down on one of the stone benches near the reflecting pool for a smoke, nodding at the kids who were splashing around and they wisely took their game to the other end. A few minutes later, Angela joined me.

"Having fun, lover?" She asked.

"Would you be surprised if I said yes?" I replied, flicking the ash off my cigar.

"A couple years ago I would have said yes, but now?" She snuggled into me and sighed. "Fatherhood's been very good for you."

"I keep hearin' that. I don't see how anythin's that much different."

"You scowl less, you smile more. Hell, you even laughed in defense the other day." She gave me a nudge and I looked down at her. "Even the new kids aren't afraid of you right off anymore. We might have to change your code name. What do you think of 'Puppy'?"

I growled. "Do that an' I'll start callin' you 'Fluffy'." She smiled at the old joke and I wrapped an arm around her. "Ya know, motherhood's been just as good to you darlin'."

"You just like what it did for my boobs."

"What can I say? I'm a man." She punched my arm and I laughed. "Seriously, though. Ya don't lose your temper like you used to, you sleep better an' you haven't given out one detention since you had her."

"Babies have a mellowing effect on me. It was the same way with Emma."

I just nodded and finished off my smoke. She didn't talk much about the daughter she'd lost, no thanks to William Stryker, not since we'd had Evie. I'm sure that she still missed her other little girl, but now she had another one to focus on. I know that having Evie made the pain I still felt for my lost children a lot more bearable. We sat there watching the other children play for a while, just enjoying the day and everything it meant for us. We were a real family and I really liked the way that felt.

Our calm was broken by the sound of someone running up to us. I looked up and there was Kitty, breathing hard, an envelope in her hand. "Sorry to interrupt, but a really tall guy just brought this for you."

"Who was it?" I asked, instantly suspicious.

She shrugged. "No idea. He just said to give you this and he left."

I took the envelope and gave it a sniff. There was a vaguely familiar scent clinging to it, but I couldn't place it right away. Other than that, it just smelled like ink and paper, so I tore it open. There was a single sheet in there with two sentences written in a neat, careful hand.

_Logan and Angela-_

_Project Prodigal has been officially reactivated. Watch your backs._

_T.B._

"Lover, what is it?" Angela asked and took the note from me. After scanning it, she looked up, panic all over her face. "What are we gonna do?"

"You still got those files he gave us?" She nodded. "Get 'em out. It's time we went huntin'."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 1

(Angela)

**Three Years Later**

"…and they all lived happily ever after." I quietly closed the book and kissed my sleeping daughter on the forehead. It was day fifty-seven of reading "Cinderella" and I was mortally tired of it, but she loved it and there was nothing I wouldn't do for her. With one exception.

Logan and I had managed to hit five bases in the past three years, scattering the attacks far enough apart so that – hopefully – no one would be able to anticipate our arrival. In all but one case, we'd left almost no one alive. The one exception had been one of those tiny outposts like the one they'd taken Scott to. We'd lucked out on that one, catching the person who was our main objective as he was leaving the perimeter. We don't know where he was going and we didn't bother to ask him. We'd simply killed him and left our calling card imprinted on his body, a single word: Vengeance.

Naturally, we still infiltrated that base, but we made full use of our stealth and infiltration training as opposed to our combat and assassination skills. This particular base wasn't strictly a Weapon X facility and we didn't want to kill anyone who was truly innocent. We'd already killed the bastard we came for, all that had been left was to retrieve any pertinent files and get them back to Buzz and Sage for analysis. Once that was done, we added the information to the files that Bennington had given us all those years ago. Still, we'd barely managed to dent the original file. We didn't care. We had all the time in the world.

Genevieve hated it when we went on our little trips. We didn't tell her exactly what we were doing, for obvious reasons. We knew we'd have to tell her someday exactly what had happened to us and why, for her own protection if nothing else. Charles, Scott and Storm knew why were doing this, as did Rogue, Sam and Chasca. We took Kyro with us more often than not, since he was just as much a victim of Weapon X as we were. The one time he'd stayed behind was because Chasca had a badly sprained ankle from a Danger Room session and since Josh Foley had gone on to college at Rutgers, she had to heal it up the old fashioned way. So, Kyro stayed behind to play nursemaid and baby-sit while Logan and I took out an active Weapon X facility. That trip took us about fourteen hours round trip, including the two hour showers we took when we got home. We would not touch our daughter with even a hint of the blood of our enemies on us.

We still hadn't found the other four known active operatives, which was a source of worry for us. We didn't even know where to look. There was nothing in the files that Bennington had given us to indicate which of the facilities acted as the main base of operations for the program. On our second mission, we'd found them just beginning the bonding process on another mutant they'd captured, a phase that injected billions of nanotech "valves" into the bloodstream, where they would bond with the tiny valves in the bones and keep them intact for the adamantium bonding that would happen later. We did our best to save her, but the bastards in the lab killed her, rather than let us escape with her. We left that place a smoking ruin, our one regret that we never learned that poor woman's name.

It didn't surprise us that our little excursions never made the news. After all, the entire Weapon X program made "black ops" look positively public by comparison. I often wondered what the families of the people we killed were told about why their sons, daughters, husbands and wives weren't coming home, no bodies to bury. I didn't lose any sleep over it, not by a longshot. After all, the only places those people actually existed were the places they were stationed and the papers Bennington had given us. I'm sure there were plenty of people who got caught in our crossfire who were no guiltier for the program than Logan and I were, but that's the way things sometimes go. As far as we were concerned, if someone was based at an active facility, they were guilty enough for us.

Now, we'd only been home from our last foray for about three hours, just long enough to have a bit of quality time with our daughter before tucking her into bed. She'd begged me to read "Cinderella" for her at least five times before she finally drifted off, which I did without complaint. I looked down at her sleeping form, her black curls unruly and impossibly long lashes brushing her cheeks. I gently kissed her again before padding out of her room and softly closing the door that connected her room to ours. Logan was already dozing on the bed and I eased myself next to him, resting my head on his chest. He opened his eyes and kissed the top of my head.

"Lemme guess. 'Cinderella' again?" He asked with a smirk.

"Fifty-seven days and counting." I replied with a sigh. "I'm thinking about introducing her to 'Beauty and the Beast'."

"Darlin', you can't tell her our life story yet, she's too young."

I chuckled. "The real one, smartass." He wrapped his arms around me and held me close. "Logan, are we really getting anywhere with this vendetta? We still haven't found this 'Director', his name doesn't appear anywhere in the entire file. Buzz and Sage don't know who he could be. And that poor woman two years ago…" I trailed off with a sigh.

"We can't stop, Angela, not now. That woman was all the proof we needed that they're still doin' this shit to people." He clenched his jaw and swallowed hard. "I –_We_ can't let it go on."

I nodded and sighed again. He was right and I knew that. But I couldn't help but wonder if we'd ever get to rest.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_"Logan, look out!" You scream as you dive for cover. He looks up and barely manages to scramble in next to you as the missile impacts the wall near where you'd just been standing, scattering debris all around you. Bullets fly overhead, tracers making bright red lines in the night that sting your eyes. "What the fuck is going on?"_

_"I don't know!" He shouts, his eyes bright with fury. "But you have to get Evie and get the hell outta here!"_

_"Logan, I'm not leaving you!"_

_"Damn it, you have to! She's more important than either of us. Just go, I'll be fine!"_

_"I…" The words catch in your throat as you look at him, sudden tears clouding your vision. "I love you." You finally manage to whisper._

_He looks down at you and his expression softens for a moment. "I know, darlin'. I love you too." He suddenly grabs you and kisses you hard, bruising your lips. "Now get her and get outta here. I'll find you, no matter where you go. I'll find you, I promise."_

_You nod and reach out to stroke his cheek one last time. He smiles briefly, then his expression hardens as he looks over the remains of the wall and his claws pop out with a "snikt". With a roar of primal rage, he throws himself out of your scant cover and disappears into the night._

_Swallowing your fear, you scramble down the hall to the stairs that lead to the lower levels. They hadn't found them yet, cleverly hidden as they were. You rush down to the Danger Room where your daughter is supposed to be sheltered with the rest of the students who have not yet been trained for combat, but she's not in there. You grab the nearest student and give him a rough shake. "Where is she? Where's my daughter?" You scream._

_"I-I don't know!" The kid stammers. "She didn't come down with the rest of us!" You shove the boy aside with a curse before leaving the Danger Room and locking the door behind you once again. You reach deep inside yourself, tapping into the feral side of your nature that has a natural bond with your child, a bond that cannot be broken. With a low growl, you set off once again to the main floor of the mansion._

_You manage to make it to the second floor without any major incidents, the fighting mostly concentrated on the lawn in the back. As you round a corner, your eyes widen in horror as a man in fatigues exits your room with your daughter in his arms, unconscious. A snarl of fury erupts from your throat as you rush down the hall towards him, but you suddenly fly forward to land in a heap when a perfectly aimed bullet hits you in the back. You manage to roll over and the exit wound in the left side of your chest is large enough that you could easily put your own fist in there. The red haze that had obscured your vision quickly fades to be replaced by an insidious blackness. Before your vision fails completely, a figure looms into view. All you see is a silhouette, his face blanketed in darkness._

_"Thank you, Hellcat. She's perfect." He says, his voice low. "Don't worry, you'll see her again someday, when we send her to kill you and your lover."_

_"No…" You whisper weakly as the blackness consumes you. The last thought you have before you die is "I failed."_

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I sat straight up in bed, biting back a scream of terror. Moonlight slanted through the windows turning everything in the room to soft shades of gray. I looked around frantically, but everything was quiet, just another normal night at the mansion. I leapt out of bed and rushed to Evie's door, opening it as quietly as I could. She slept peacefully, her stuffed bear clutched to her chest. I walked over to her bed and sat down carefully, not wanting to wake her. Her soft breathing filled the room and she stirred for a second before rolling over and settling herself back down. I smiled and kissed her gently on the cheek before going back to my own bed.

As I slipped under the covers again, Logan mumbled in his sleep then woke up. "Darlin'? Is everythin' ok?"

"Yeah, it's fine." I said and snuggled into him.

He frowned. "No it ain't. Your heart's beatin' like a jackhammer. What happened?"

"Nothing. Just a bad dream."

"Wanna tell me about it?"

"Not really." I buried my face in his chest, but he moved back a little and looked me in the eyes. "It was just a dream, I promise."

"You ain't been spooked by a dream since Kyro. C'mon, it might make you feel better."

"No, it won't. I won't feel better until the Weapon X project is gone, once and for all."

"I know, darlin'. We'll get 'em, all of 'em."

I nodded and he kissed me, not at all like the one in my dream. I kissed him back, molding my body to his with a sudden surge of desire. My hands wandered over his chest and he growled low in his throat. He slipped my tank top over my head, one hand coming to rest on my breast. He traced circles around the nipple with his thumb and I returned his growl with one of my own. His hands continued to trace intricate patterns on my skin, finally coming down to slide my panties off me. He rolled over onto his back and lifted me on top of him. I leaned forward to kiss him again even as I slid myself down on him. He closed his eyes and grabbed my hips firmly, setting the rhythm.

"Gods, you are so beautiful." I breathed as he moved within me.

"No, you're the beautiful one." He buried his hand in my hair and pulled me down for another kiss. We took our time, simply enjoying the feeling of being alive and together and in love. With touches and kisses, he chased the last remnants of the dream away until all I could see was his face. I closed my eyes as I approached the edge, gasping out his name. A low rumbling started deep in his chest, building into a growl that was also my name as we came together. He pulled me down to his chest, stroking my hair as the last shudders of pleasure coursed through me. I fell back to sleep like that, joined with my lover, his heartbeat steady, his arms a protective circle around me.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When I woke up again, sunlight was streaming through the windows and the clock said it was almost time to get up. I groaned and pulled the blankets over my head.

Logan stirred beside me and slipped the covers away. "Darlin', we can't stay in bed all day." He mumbled. "Gotta teach today."

"Mm, tell them I'm sick and I need my rest." I said, eyes still closed.

He chuckled. "Won't work. They know your healin' factor don't let you get sick."

"Jerk."

"Yeah, but ya love me anyway."

I grumbled under my breath as I rolled out of bed, then stumbled to the bathroom for a quick shower. By the time I emerged, Logan had already gotten Evie up and dressed for the day. I took over with the chore of taming her hair, which was dark like his but curly like mine, while he took his own shower. She complained the whole time I was braiding it, the only style that kept it from becoming a completely unmanageable tangle within ten minutes. By the time I finished with that, Logan came out of the bathroom and the three of us made our way to the dining room for breakfast.

Evie immediately took off to sit with her "Aunt" Marie, who had taken over teaching the very young kids who had been arriving with more regularity over the years. The President that had been in office when Evie was born was long gone, the man who'd been elected the following year a much more tolerant person. He was the youngest President in history, which may have had something to do with it. He also had a niece who was a mutant, though she wasn't a student here. At any rate, now that mutants were slowly being more accepted in society, parents were sending their kids here now with their blessings, paying tuition and everything, and Marie had slid into the role of "elementary school" teacher with remarkable ease. Evie was technically too young for that school level, but she'd always been a bit ahead of other children in her age bracket and liked to sit in on Marie's morning classes. We watched her settle into her seat before taking our own at the main staff table.

Once breakfast was over, Logan and I separated to teach our respective classes. He oversaw Danger Room for the current Gamma team while I had strategy and tactics with Delta. There were so many new faces taking the place of the old and the students were starting to look impossibly young to me. But I couldn't let that get in the way; these kids needed to learn everything that we could teach them, no matter how good the political climate was. Just because our leader was tolerant of us didn't mean that the people were following along and a myriad of anti-mutant groups sprang up in response. With such names as "Friends of Humanity", it was clear where these people stood, so I felt even more strongly that it was my duty to teach these children how to protect themselves in a world that was still outwardly hostile towards them.

Still, the X-Men did have a government sanction, secret though it was, and that made our jobs a lot easier. We'd expanded our scope to include such things as helping out in the event of a disaster, search and rescue and even the occasional hostage situation. Having someone who can walk through walls sneak in and save someone from a kidnapper is really handy, especially when she can make the hostage bulletproof too. It put mutants in a positive light, event though most of us kept our identities secret. At least people could see us helping normal humans, which was always a good thing.

At least they never saw what Logan and I were doing. If they had, mutants wouldn't have had a chance.

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**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Special Note:** My heartfelt thanks go out to **Dark Phoenix Rising** for helping me with German geography...:) If you haven't checked out her stories here on FFN, "Stages", "Changes", "Changes Sequel 1 Darkness" and "Return to Weapon X", please do so now...i've read plenty of stuff by people who claim English as their first language and she does better than A LOT of those i've seen...

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Chapter 2.

(Logan)

"Ok, so we've taken out this one, this one, this one and this one." Angela said, stabbing her claw into the map. "We got the one guy from this one that we wanted. What's next?"

I looked over the map of North America that we'd marked with all the locations that were mentioned in the BCI file for Weapon X. I was a little surprised that they'd hidden entire complexes under existing military bases that the people above ground never even knew were there. Either they'd gotten smart after Alkali Lake or their funding got cut. Any way I looked at it, it made our job a hell of a lot harder.

"We've hit plenty on this continent." I replied. "Where's that map of Europe?"

"Uhh, hold on a sec." She rifled through the mess of papers that littered the table in front of us. We'd told Chuck that we needed an office downstairs for a "little project" and he'd given us one. Besides being psychic, he's also smart and I know he knew what we really wanted it for. He might not agree with what we were doing, but at least he understood why we needed to do it. "Ah, here it is." She spread the map out and Kyro and I leaned over it.

"You are thinking that we should, as you would say, switch it up a bit?" Kyro asked.

I nodded. "Yep. If we stop hittin' North America, they might think we got everythin' we knew about, start gettin' comfortable again."

"And comfortable people get sloppy." Angela finished for me. "Sounds like a plan." She chewed on a claw before stabbing at the map again. "This one."

The place she had impaled was in an area in the southwestern part of Germany. It didn't surprise me at all that there was a Weapon X base there. Some of the shit I'd seen in the Second World War made _that_ pretty obvious.

I looked at her across the table. "I like it. But both of us ain't goin'."

"What?" She shouted and jumped out of her seat. "Hell no, Logan. You're not leaving me out of this!"

"Look, when it's a continental jaunt, we're there an' back in under a day. But this'll take more time an' I don't wanna leave Evie without both o' her parents for that long." I took her hand and kissed it. "One o' us has to stay here an' protect her."

"And how do you presume we decide who stays and who goes?"

I grinned. "The old fashioned way. Got a quarter?"

She looked down to hide her smile and fished a coin out of her pocket. "Heads, I go. Tails, you go." I nodded and she flipped it into the air. We both watched as it completed its arc and landed in the middle of the map, clearly showing tails. She scooped it up with a scowl. "If I hadn't flipped it myself, I'd swear you cheated so you could have all the fun."

"I promise, you can go on the next one." I said.

"I'm holding you to that!" She bent back over the map, then leafed through the file for the documents we'd need to plan this mission. "Ok, the base is located about a hundred miles southwestish of Nord-Hessen in Bavaria… "

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took about two weeks of careful planning before we – meaning Angela – felt confident that the mission would work. I gotta give her credit; when the time came, she let me go without any fuss, just a kiss and a "come back to me or I'll kill you". Can't help but love a woman who threatens to kill you if you die.

Xavier let us use Blackbird Three (the original jet) to get over there. Kyro had insisted on learning how to fly the things when he'd made Alpha team, which I think was at least partly so that none of the other X-Men would have to get blood on their hands by piloting the jet for us. I could have probably flown one in a pinch, but it's never come up and I hope that it never does. Once he'd said goodbye to his woman, we strapped into the cockpit and started on our way.

The trip took about four hours and that only because we took the jet sub-orbital. Once we got to the general area, we flew just below radar range and made a pass over where the facility was supposed to be. Sure enough, in the middle of what should have been a whole lot of nothing was a complex that looked very military to us. We found a secure spot to land about five klicks to the north and I took the time to radio back to the mansion before we set out. "Wolverine to base, do not respond. Project V is green. Will send again on alternate frequency when it's all over." I clicked the radio off and looked at my partner. "You ready?" He just nodded and we started on our way.

He shifted into his half-panther form and melted into the shadows as I picked my way through the sparse cover. The area was lightly wooded, mostly varieties of pine with a few oaks and birches scattered here and there. This was bad for us, since it meant we'd have to cross some pretty big open areas to stay under some kind of cover. When it was possible, Kyro stuck to the high road, leaving me on the ground to scent out any sentries we might come across. But whenever we had to cross those open places, the space between my shoulders would tense up, waiting for a bullet to come out of nowhere.

We didn't find any guards of any kind until we were about a klick away from the base. I scented two of them about a hundred yards apart, so I motioned to Kyro to head to the east while I came up on the one to the west. He had his back to me and as luck would have it, he turned just as I came up behind him. His eyes widened in shock when my claws pierced his throat and I lowered him slowly to the ground. I slid my claws back slowly to minimize the sound and crept back to where I'd left Kyro. He was waiting for me, the smell of blood on his hands. I nodded to him once and we continued our progress.

Five hundred yards later, I motioned for Kyro to hold position and cocked my head. A heartbeat later, he did the same thing and we both scanned the area for the sound we'd heard, which was a faint buzzing. Moving carefully over the rough terrain, we finally found the source, which was a laser sensor array just like the ones we had scattered all over the mansion grounds back home. It looked to be about eight feet high with a laser every six inches, so we'd both have to find a way to get over it. We followed it to the east for about fifty yards before coming to a tree that would suit our purpose. He went over first, climbing about ten feet up and leaping from the branches to land silently about four yards from the lasers. I followed suit a few seconds later, landing a bit closer to the array but with no more sound than Kyro had. He emerged from the shadows of a cluster of oaks and we made the last leg of the journey without incident.

We finally came up on the perimeter of the complex and I swore softly. Besides the double electrified fence and the sentries posted every fifty feet in between them, the trees had been cleared for about twenty yards from the edge of the first fence. We pulled back into the shelter of a small grove of pines to plan our move.

"Logan-san, this will be difficult." Kyro said as he shifted to his full human form.

"No shit." I replied. "But we ain't gotta choice. We've come this far, we gotta finish it."

"What is your plan?"

"Don't look like stealth is gonna be much of an option, so here's what we'll do…" I outlined the plan for him quickly. I would break cover and slash open the nearest fence, either of which would bring sentries with guns blazing. While they were distracted, he would slip inside and start working on any other sentries that were coming to join the fun. Once we had a big enough hole opened in the living barrier, I would slice open the other fence and he would sneak to the nearest cover he could find. Of course, the whole place would be on high alert by then, so we'd probably end up having to fight every inch of the way. "By then, I figure we'll have gotten what we need an' we can get the hell outta here."

"I do not like it, you taking the major part of the damage here." He said with a shake of his head.

"Look bub, whether you like it or not, I heal a hell of a lot faster than you do. Besides, shooting me only pisses me off." I smirked at him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry Kyro. It'll work out." He nodded and we got into position.

We waited until the guards were at their furthest point apart from each other and I dashed forward quickly, claws out. I slashed into the fence as fast as I could, my body convulsing as the electricity arced through my bones. I recovered in a blink, but the sentries were already there with their guns drawn and shouting orders in German. I looked up at them with a snarl and leapt forward. Their guns chattered and I grunted as bullets impacted my chest and arms, sprays of blood erupting from the wounds. Then I was on top of them, my claws flashing in the muzzle flare as I brought them down to slash apart both weapons and limbs. I heard more shouting in the distance as the sentries fell beneath my claws, bleeding out from their wounds. I turned to face the incoming guards, who skidded to halt when they saw me with looks of horror on their faces. I rushed towards them and they lifted their guns, but they were too late to get off more than a couple shots before I shoved my claws in their throats, nearly decapitating one of them in the bargain.

"Wolverine! The fence!" I heard behind me and I spun to face Kyro, his clothing liberally splashed with blood. I stalked over to him and slashed through the second fence, my body once again convulsing in response to the electricity. I heard another shout in German behind me and I turned to meet the guards even as Kyro slipped inside the perimeter to find cover.

These guards must have been made of harder stuff than the others, because they met me without a hint of hesitation. The first one came running right up to me and whipped me across the face with the butt of his rifle. My head snapped to the side and I looked back at him slowly, a low growl coming from my throat. He raised his weapon to hit me again, but I lashed out with my left and severed his arm at the elbow before thrusting my right into his gut. I twisted my arm as I pulled my claws out and he was dead before he hit the ground. His comrade threw down his weapon and fell to his knees, begging for his life in German.

I grabbed him by the back of his head and forced him to stand. "How do we get into the underground part of the base?" I snarled in passable German.

"There is a door in the second bunker." He replied, his voice quivering. "You need a key card to get in."

"I got all the clearance I need right here." I lifted my hand and showed him my claws, still covered with the blood of his comrade. "Is there anyone else here like me? Other mutants?"

"Nein, not that I have seen. Please, don't kill me! I will tell no one I have seen you!"

"Sorry bub, can't take that chance." I couldn't leave him alive, no matter what he'd said. These bastards have ways of making people talk. I should know, they taught them to me. But at least I could grant him a quick death and I did.

I could still hear other sentries on the move to my position, so I got out of there and through the perimeter before they could arrive. I sniffed the air and picked out Kyro's scent above the stink of blood and cordite. I ran silently to where he'd hidden himself in the shadow of a truck. I paused to wipe the blood off my claws before sheathing them and turned to him. "Status?" I whispered.

"The main entrance seems to be over there." He replied quietly, pointing to a well-lit door guarded by four men. "One of them spoke to someone over the radio, but I could not hear what he said over the shooting and screaming."

"Ain't gonna apologize for that. Any other ways in?"

He nodded. "There is a window on the west side of the building on the second floor. Are we going in?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. Main entrance to the underground part's in that bunker over there." I jerked my head to the right. "We'll take that out first."

He nodded and we took off quietly towards the bunker. It pissed me off that these guys were hiding their biggest secrets behind people who were probably completely innocent. It didn't mean I wouldn't kill them; anyone who points a weapon at me is an enemy and I would deal with them as such. The fact that they didn't need to die is what made me so angry about the whole thing. No matter what anyone has ever thought of me, I am not cold-blooded killer. It took me a long time and the love of a woman for me to get that through my extra-thick skull and I truly believe it now. Just because I was on a rampage of murder at the moment didn't mean I was just a killer. These Weapon X people had hurt, tortured and killed far more people than anyone will ever know about and I was going to make sure they paid for those crimes.

We made it almost all the way to the bunker undetected. Just as we were about to make our final approach to the door, a pair of guards rounded a corner and pretty much ran right into us. They stared in surprise for a moment and I grabbed the one on the left and shoved my claws into his throat even as Kyro leapt onto the other one with a snarl. The guard had time to make a single cry of alarm before Kyro knocked him to the ground and tore his throat out. Not wanting to take the chance that someone had heard his shout, we ran the last twenty yards and I hit the door with my claws and wrenched it off its hinges. As I tossed it aside, Kyro slipped past me and attacked the first thing that moved.

The bunker was mostly empty, only about half a dozen soldiers still inside. I didn't know where the rest of them had gotten to and I didn't care; these six people were standing between me and another slice of vengeance. Movement flashed in the corner of my eye and I turned to face a soldier who couldn't have been more than twenty years old, a Sig-Sauer P226 pointed at my chest. He shouted an order to me in German, which I ignored and drew my fist back, claws out. He shot me point-blank and the bullet ricocheted off my sternum to hit him right between the eyes. He was dead before he hit the floor.

Another soldier rushed at me from the side and managed to bury a knife in my side to the hilt. My hand lashed out to the side and his eyes rolled up in his head a moment before it fell to the ground, followed by his body. I grabbed the knife and pulled it out with a snarl, flipped it around and threw it at the last advancing soldier. It hit him high in the right shoulder with a meaty thunk and he fell to his knees, his hands wrapped around the handle. Before he could pull it out, I rushed over to him and grabbed his head. With a quick twist, I snapped his neck and he fell over.

I turned around to see if there was anyone left, but the only other person alive was Kyro. He'd shifted back to his full human form, his hand clenched to his right shoulder. "Hey bub, you all right?"

He nodded and grimaced. "Hai, Logan-san. This one shot me." He kicked the body at his feet. "I will be all right in a moment."

We moved to the back of the bunker, where there was a small office. I took a deep sniff and a faint chemical smell was coming from behind a bookshelf in the corner. I went over to it and pulled, revealing a door with a slot for a keycard next to it. I grinned, popped a single claw and jammed it into the reader. The mechanism sparked briefly and the door slid open a couple of inches. I made sure Kyro was still behind me and forced the door the rest of the way. On the other side was an elevator shaft, the car nowhere in sight. I sighed and turned back to my partner.

"We're gonna hafta climb down. You gonna be ok for that?"

"I will make it." He replied, his mouth set in a grim line. "Let us finish this."

I turned back to the gaping blackness in front of me, relieved only by the occasional red light bulb spaced about every fifteen feet all the way down. A service ladder ran down just to the right of the door and I swung myself onto it. After I climbed about six feet, Kyro appeared above me and we started our slow progress to the hidden complex below the base.

We passed two other doors on the way down, but I figured it would be easier to start at the bottom and work our way up. For one thing, they wouldn't be expecting it. It went against every bit of training that I had to do it this way, which was something I was hoping they would remember. The climb only took about ten minutes all told before we came to the top of the elevator car. I dropped on top of it and waited a few seconds. If there was anyone waiting in there for us, they would have shot me through the ceiling of the car, fuck any damage to the actual elevator. They could fix that. I didn't think they'd get over being dead any time soon. When no shots rang out, I popped my claws and slashed open the emergency exit and dropped into the car, followed by Kyro. I took a quick look at his injured shoulder, but it seemed to have healed up nicely. A quick nod was the only warning I gave him before I cut through the doors.

I expected resistance as soon as I stepped out, so I was surprised to find the hallway empty. Everything was bathed in an eerie red glow from the emergency lights that lined the walls, which were polished steel not unlike the lower levels at the mansion. I raised an eyebrow at that and inhaled deeply. Underneath the scents of countless humans, chemicals and gun oil I caught a very faint scent I hadn't encountered in a very long time. Magneto had been here, long ago, probably when he was a captive of the Nazis. Much as I hated the guy for what he'd done to Rogue, Charles and so many others, I still wouldn't have wished that fate on anyone.

"Wolverine, I do not like this." I heard Kyro say and I turned back to him. He was once again in his full human form, his eyes narrowed and his fingers curled. "I do not like this at all. Where are all the people?"

"Dunno. Gotta be around here somewhere." I sniffed the air again and took off to the left, following the chemical smell. "Lab's this way, we'll start there." He nodded and shifted back to his half-panther form and his claws emerged from his curled fingers. I listened carefully as we worked our way deeper into the complex, but I still didn't hear anyone. Kyro was right; this was definitely not normal.

After a few minutes of twists and turns, we finally came to the main lab. I took a deep breath, but I could only smell one person inside. Instead of hitting the doors hard and fast, I eased them open and slipped inside, Kyro a half step behind me. The person in the lab was a woman, hunched over a computer terminal with her back to the door. Without looking up, she called over her shoulder, "Thanks guys, just put them down on the table over there", in perfect English.

I smirked and slid my claws out. "Wrong answer, darlin'."

She turned with a gasp and stood up so quickly her chair rolled several feet away from her. "Oh my God!" She cried and looked wildly about. She began edging towards a cabinet in the corner and I jerked my head to Kyro. He rushed over and put himself in between it and her, while I covered the door. Her jaw went slack; we had her cornered and she knew it. "Please, I haven't done anything!"

"I'll be the judge o' that." I said and stalked forward. "Where's the others?"

"I-I don't know!" She stammered and I knew she was lying.

"Wrong answer again." I was only a few feet away from her and she began backing up to the desk. I closed the gap and pinned her there, my claws under her chin. "Where the hell are they?"

"Up-upstairs! Level two, in the containment facility!"

"What's that for?"

"For y-you! They were counting on you starting at the top!" She closed her eyes and a tear slid down her cheek. "Th-they think they can c-contain you! Get you b-back in the pr-program!"

"So you're all alone down here?" She nodded. "An' you've all been expectin' me?"

"You haven't exactly been subtle, Wolverine." She replied, suddenly finding some courage. "For all of your failings, you're a credit to the program. All three of you are."

"An' you think that's a good thing darlin'? Think again! I was plenty good at killin' before you got your hands on me. I just never did it without a good reason."

"Which was one of the problems with you, your damn conscience, your _honor_." She spat the last word like a curse. "You were supposed to be the perfect weapon."

"I am a MAN, not a weapon!" I shouted. "All of us were people an' you cut us open, stole our lives! NO MORE!" My other hand shot out and my claws went through the computer she'd been working at. I grabbed her by the throat and gave her a shake. "No more, do you understand me?"

She nodded. "Please, Wolv…Logan. Don't kill me. I wasn't here when they altered you, any of you!"

"Do you honestly think I give a shit?" I gestured to the lab with my free hand. "I know what this place is for! I know what happens here! This project didn't die with Stryker, so that means there's someone else pullin' the strings. Who is it?"

"I don't know! We just know him as the Director. No one knows his name!"

"We'll see about that." I let her go and she fell to the floor in a heap, coughing. I turned to leave, but I heard the distinct sound of a gun cocking and I rounded on her, claws out and I took her hand off at the wrist. "Such a shame, darlin'. I was gonna let ya go." Her eyes widened in shock as I slashed her throat. I looked up at Kyro. "C'mon. We got some house cleanin' to do."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took us a few hours to clear the place out, but there was no one left alive when we were through. I stood outside the main building and looked around. Kyro held a crate in his hands filled with files, hard drives and disks that we found in the underground complex. Once we were back at the mansion, they'd be given to Buzz and Sage for analysis, to see if we could learn anything about this "Director" or any other new operatives they were working on. If we could save even one more person, I would consider it a success. I made a final stroke on the wall with my hand to finish off the calling card. I looked at my partner. "We ready?"

"Yes, I think we have everything." He replied, shifting the crate a little.

"Good. Let's go home." We turned away and started back to the jet. I spared one final glance at the latest Weapon X facility to fall and the word I'd left in four-foot letters on the wall: Vengeance.

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**AN:** Lots of thanks to everyone who's been reading this...NaNoWriMo is going, well, slow but i hope it'll turn out ok...:) Special thanks to my beta readers, Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, who do such a good job at making sure this all makes sense...Extra special thanks to DBK(TM) for really being my first fan...:) Super special thanks to the readers, for stopping in and checking it out...and Super Swanky Special thanks to my reviewers, who were Ineluctability, reeltreble1031, sela103 and levanna...:) Ineluctability - Good luck with NaNoWriMo...if you need a cheerleader, i'm there! reeltreble - So glad to see you back...this is a bit of a darker fic than you might be used to, but i've made sure there's still some stuff in here that's pure fun too...keep your eyes open! sela - Yes, i can count to four...as you can tell by the part where i updated the 5th and not the 4th...:) Good to have you back! levanna - Good to see you back...:) 

**Now, out of all the people who read, only about 1/10 of you review...i'll make the same promise i made before...if someone who has NEVER reviewed before takes the plunge and clicks that button down there, you'll get an instant update...:) How cool is that? So go ahead, give it a try...otherwise, i'll see you all on Nov. 9th!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Special Note: **Everyone give your heartfelt thanks to **taigh01** for reviewing...:) As promised, whenever i get a new reviewer, everyone gets a new chapter...:) Enjoy!

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Chapter 3

(Angela)

Logan and Kyro returned from Germany in just under twenty-four hours. Evie was already asleep when they got back, so Logan was able to give me a breakdown of the mission right away. The files and disks they found were taken immediately to Buzz and Sage, who would pick them over for any details that might lead us to the ever-enigmatic "Director". It frustrated us all that he was never given any other name or title, since it was now painfully obvious that he was the real mastermind behind Weapon X. None of the information we'd found so far gave any indication to where he made his main base of operations, so we just had to hope that we'd be able to take him out by chance.

Weeks passed, students came and went and we were still no closer to an answer about him. Kyle and Jubilee both went off to college, the latter of which depressed Buzz to no end. Teams changed, people advanced and life returned to what passed as normal around the mansion. I taught strategy with Logan, we both taught defense and did Danger Room with the teams. Evie got cuter and wrapped Logan around her little finger just a bit tighter. Life was pretty good, our personal mission notwithstanding.

It was because of that mission that I found myself in a heated argument with Sarah, of all people. As someone who was former military, she felt a certain kinship with those still in the service and thought that what Logan, Kyro and I were doing was plain wrong. Naturally, I had other ideas. So it was after a particularly bloody Danger Room session that I found myself toe-to-toe with her.

"Look, I just think that you should give some of those soldiers the benefit of the doubt!" She shouted.

"Sorry lady, but anyone who's pointing an automatic weapon in my face doesn't get the benefit of ANY doubt." I replied, barely keeping my anger in check. "And before you get all high and mighty about men and women who are just following orders, remember what they did to us."

"But they _are_ just following orders! Most of them probably don't have a clue about what goes on in the labs!"

"That's NOT an excuse!" I finally lost my hold on my temper and my claws slid out involuntarily, my vision coming over in that familiar scarlet haze. "Anyone and I mean ANYONE, who follows an order that includes the torture and mutilation of another person is as guilty as the guy with the knife."

"You should know as well as I do that the lower you get on the ladder, the less likely it is that someone knows exactly what's going on!" Her hair was starting to move around like a living thing, writhing about in a manner that was most disturbing to see. "You have innocent blood on your hands."

"What else is new? I'm a fucking ASSASSIN, in case you've forgotten! I've killed people for far less reason than the people I'm killing now!"

"Most of the people you're killing now weren't even there when they did what they did to you! But you just go in and take out everything that moves, no concern for their personal involvement, you just send them all to hell."

I narrowed my eyes. "You wanna know about hell? The one Logan and Kyro and I went through? I'll show you hell." I raised my right hand and slashed my left arm open to the bone. Blood sprayed Sarah's face and she flinched, her hair springing out in all directions. I hissed as I pulled my own flesh apart to show her the gleaming silvery color of the adamantium inside me. "THIS is hell, Sarah. They cut me open and killed me over half a dozen times to do THIS to me. They did it to Logan, they did it to Kyro and that woman we found a couple years ago proves they're STILL doing it." I tore off my tank top and wrapped it around my injured arm. "Don't talk to me about hell, sister. I've been there."

I turned and stalked out of the Danger Room to make my way to the infirmary, clad only in my cargo pants and sports bra. Hank was spitting mad at me for what I'd done and lectured me as he wrapped up my arm. I just sat there, gritting my teeth and said nothing to deny his words. He was right, I knew he was right, but I was sick to death of defending my actions to people who didn't know anything. Hank finished with my arm and I got up to leave, but he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder to stop me. "I want you to stay here until that's healed." He said firmly.

"I can't, I have strategy in ten minutes." I replied, much shorter with him than I'd intended.

"Let Logan teach it today. There are a few things I would like to discuss with you."

"Oh crap, Blue. I'm not pregnant again, am I?"

He chuckled. "No, you're not, I assure you." I breathed a sigh of relief. I love kids and I wanted to have more with Logan…eventually. Hank smiled at me and patted my shoulder. "Come with me to my office, please?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, whatever. Let me call Logan and tell him I won't be there today."

He went to his office and I met him there after I got off the phone. Hank's office was decorated in what I always thought of as "controlled chaos". A pair of fairly comfortable modern-style armchairs sat in front of a huge desk, which was piled with files, papers and other miscellany, but he could always put his hands on exactly the thing he needed when he needed it. He motioned for me to sit down before taking the chair next to me and offering me a cup of tea. I declined, having never been much of a tea fan in the first place, except when I was pregnant and only because coffee wasn't allowed.

Once he was settled in with his own cup, he peered at me over the rim of his glasses. "Angela, why did you do that to yourself?"

Oh, so _that's_ what this was about. "Blue, I don't need psychoanalyzed if that's what you're thinking. I didn't do it for the sake of cutting myself open. Some people just need to see the horror with their own eyes before it's real to them."

"You slashed your own arm open to the bone. You could have bled out before you got here."

"I know exactly how much injury I can take before it'll kill me, doc. I was fine, I _am_ fine. This'll be gone in a couple hours and it won't even leave a scar."

"I'm just concerned for you, that's all. With this vendetta you have going, I've noticed that you've been taking a lot of risks. And I'm not the only one."

I felt my temper rising again. "Oh yeah? And just what business is it of anyone's except me, Logan and Kyro?"

He set down his teacup and took my hand in his huge furry one. "We're your friends, Angela. We're concerned about you, that's all. Perhaps you should put aside your revenge, just for a little while."

I snatched my hand away from his as I sprang from the chair. "Put it aside? What, you guys think I'm doing this as a way to kill myself once and for all?" I tore off the bandage he'd so carefully applied just a little while before. The bleeding had already stopped and I could feel the burning sensation of my flesh knitting itself back together. I held my arms out, right under Hank's nose. "Can you see the scars where I tried that, Hank? Or the ones on my head?" I lifted my chin, exposing my throat. "How 'bout this one? Huh? Nineteen thirty-seven, Hank, I was living in New York City and I'd just lost a good man because he saw my claws and called me a freak, left so fast he didn't even pack. Kitchen knife, right across my throat, so deep I couldn't even moan. Nineteen forty-nine, everyone I knew had a man overseas but did mine come home? Nothing like a nice hot bath and a razor to the wrists to do the trick, let me tell you."

Hank reached out to stop me. "Angela, please. You don't have to prove anything to me."

"YES I DO!" I shouted. "Nineteen sixty-three and I'd just come back to the States from Canada for the second time. Vietnam claimed over four million lives and my lover was among them. Single gunshot to the temple and the first time I had to sneak out of a morgue. Nineteen eighty-one and I was just tired of living. I was seventy-six years old and didn't look a day over thirty. I was sick of moving every five or ten years just to keep my friends from figuring out what I was, sick of losing friends if they did find out. Hell, Detroit was the longest I'd stayed anywhere in almost thirty years and even that was almost over. And do you think it's just me? I know Logan's tried too, tried to just put an end to it.

"You don't know what it's like, Hank, watching people you love get old, get sick and die, knowing that it'll probably never happen to me. I've seen the worst that people can do to each other and I've had it done to me." I sat back down and sighed, my anger spent for the moment. "I can't stop, not as long as they're still out there. I don't have a death wish, I got over that a long time ago. But no one should have to live through what we lived through and I am going to make damn sure it never happens again, no matter what it takes."

"I just…Angela, I'm worried that you're going too far, that's all." Hank said, taking my hand again. "You're not immortal or invincible, you _can_ be killed permanently. Don't you think those people know how to do it?"

"I'm sure they do. But they'll never get the chance to find out." I stood up and replaced the bandage on my arm as well as I could. "I'm going to kill them all, Hank, all the way to the top if that's what it takes. Weapon X will die or I will die trying. Either way, it'll be over end of story." He opened his mouth to speak again, but I turned my back and left the office. Strategy class was still going on, but I didn't feel much like teaching the last half. Instead, I made my way to the rose garden, which was just coming into bloom in the cool spring air. I sat down heavily on a bench and just stared at the bushes in front of me, trying not to think. I'd finally succeeded when I caught the faint whirring sound of Charles' wheelchair. I closed my eyes, hoping he'd think I was dozing and move along, but I know better than to fool a telepath. He stopped in front of me and waited. After a few minutes, I sighed and opened my eyes. "Not you too, Charles."

"No, not me too." He replied with a smile. "Hank means well, but I can understand his concern."

"Well, it's totally misplaced."

"Is it?" His expression was mild when I met his eyes. "He's your friend. For that matter, so am I. This place needs you, all three of you. I wouldn't have asked you to stay otherwise."

I sighed again and ran my fingers through my hair. "I know, Charles, I really do. But this is something we have to do, don't you get that? We already know that Evie is positive for the X gene. What if she turns out just like us? What if they find out about her somehow and come for her? Shit, I worry about Kyle every day, out there at USC all alone. What if they find out about him? It's not all about vengeance, Charles. It's about protecting people we love." I shook my head slowly. "I'm not gonna stop this, I have to do this."

"I'm not asking you to stop. I simply want to make certain you don't become a victim all over again, only permanently."

I smiled. "I won't, Charles, I promise. No matter what happens, I'll always come back here." He returned my smile and we sat there in comfortable silence until the sounds of children released from their classes began to fill the air. I stood up and the two of us went back towards the mansion, a little more understanding between us. I knew he still didn't agree with what I was doing, but I hoped he understood why.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next day, we had a going away party for Piotr and Kitty. They'd both been accepted to Cornell and were already packed and ready to go that weekend. We didn't want them to leave, they'd both become valuable members of the team, but they had to be free to live their lives any way they wanted and if the Ivy League was where they wanted to go, the least we could do was send them off right.

Of course, they made us promise that if they were ever needed for a mission that all we had to do was call. We promised them we would, but deep down I knew we wouldn't, as long as they had school to focus on. Over the summer, sure, but not until then. So, we celebrated until the wee hours of the morning and I watched as two more of my students went out into the real world for the first time since they'd arrived at the mansion, two more people to worry about.

That was the thought weighing heavily on my mind as I slipped into bed after checking on Evie. I snuggled into Logan's chest with a sigh and he wrapped his arms round me. "Somethin' on your mind, darlin'?"

"Yeah. I can't help but worry about our kids, going out there all alone."

"They ain't all alone. An' it's not like they'll forget everythin' we've taught them here. They'll be fine."

"I wish I had your confidence. They all still seem like children to me."

He chuckled. "A few years ago, you argued with Cyke that they were old enough to vote, so they were old enough to train. You changin' your mind?"

I slapped him playfully and looked up at him with a smile. "No, I'm not. But I hadn't invested any time in them back then. Now? I look at them and I see Evie all grown up and leaving for college. Just feels like time is getting away from me and there's so much left to do."

"I know, tiger. But we do our best here to make them ready for the world."

"I just wish we didn't have to. I wish that I could wake up tomorrow and have the world just accept us all. I wish I didn't have to train them to fight and strategize and kill. I wish…"

"Shh, darlin', I know how ya feel. Wishin' ain't gonna make the world a better place. That's what we're for."

"Logan, do you ever think that maybe we're going too far, with the Weapon X thing?"

He sat up and frowned at me. "Whattaya mean?"

"Hank thinks we're going too far with it, that we should stop."

"Do you agree?"

I shook my head, my eyes hardening. "No, never. Not until we've gotten them all."

"Then who gives a fuck what Hank thinks? We swore a long time ago that we'd kill 'em all an' I ain't one to go back on my word."

I nodded and cuddled back up to him, my head resting on his shoulder. I didn't want to give up our path of revenge, there was too much at stake to discard it so easily. I wasn't just thinking of our daughter, but everyone in the mansion, every mutant in the world. As long as Weapon X lived in even a single person, no one was safe.

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**AN:** I know, kinda short-ish...sorry...:) Special thanks to my beta readers, Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, for being so wonderfully supportive...Extra Special thanks to DBK(TM) for his neverending begging for new chapters...Super special thanks to the readers, just for reading...and Super Swanky Special thanks to the reviewers, who were the aforementioned taigh01, sela103 and levanna...:) taigh01 - thanks for taking the plunge! Hope you've been having fun! sela - glad you liked it! levanna - Well, what can i say? As i said at the very beginning, every character in my stories has a tendency to grow and that includes Logan...however, i can say that even in canon, he's always had a soft spot for the ladies...:)

**Now for all of you readers who haven't reviewed, please give it a try! As you can see, i'll keep my word and make sure you get a new chapter...:) What are you waiting for?**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

(Logan)

**Two Years Later**

"…In other news, a bill to add mutation to the Civil Rights Act was shot down in the House again today by an extremely narrow margin. This is the third time in two years that the bill has not made it out of Congress and mutant rights activists and the ACLU have called this latest defeat 'one more step to keeping America in the Dark Ages'. Oddly enough, in a non-scientific poll conducted by this network, public opinion regarding mutants is at an all-time high, attributed to the mutant group known only as 'The X-Men' and the assistance they have rendered to both mutants and normal humans over the past five years. With me now to discuss this phenomenon is Richard Barnes. Richard?"

"Thank you, Amanda…" Storm hit the mute button on the remote and tossed it onto the coffee table in front of her with a sigh. I looked over from where I was sitting near the windows, smoking a cigar as I listened to this latest report. Most of Alpha and a few from Beta team was in here with us, enjoying our usual after-dinner ritual that Sam had started all those years ago. There was the faintest scent of ozone in the air as Storm tried to keep her temper in check. "I can't believe it lost again!" She spat bitterly.

"Might as well get used to it, darlin'." I replied, exhaling a huge cloud of smoke. "I'd be shocked to hell if it passed in your lifetime."

"You'd think after all that we've done for the world that they'd finally give us a break." She ran her hands through her hair, a nervous gesture I'm sure she picked up from Angela. "It's just not fair!"

Faint sparks began to dance around her fingers and Sam took her gently by the shoulders and eased her back onto the couch. "Ororo, it's going to take more than a few years to change everyone's mind." He said calmly. "It doesn't mean our mission to help people is going to change."

"I know, Sam. But it just seems like as soon as we make one step forward, something else happens to set us back again." She didn't say it out loud, but we knew what she was talking about. Magneto's people were still out there somewhere and still made the occasional attack against human targets. We did our best to intercept them, but ever since the DC Metro incident they'd become much better at hiding their agenda until it was too late for us to prevent anything. Even Bennington hadn't been able to get any information to us any quicker than we received it, so I'd all but written him off as useless when it came to Lensherr's flunkies. Personally, I blamed Lensherr for the lack of progress on the mutant rights front and not for the first time, my claws were itching to bury themselves in his gut. If it wasn't for the adamantium, I'd have killed him a long time ago. Liberty Island comes to mind.

"Are we certain that it's only Magneto's people who are making things difficult for us?" Scott asked, looking right at Angela, Kyro and me.

I scowled at him. "Got somethin' to say, Cyke?"

"Yeah, I do." He stood up and crossed his arms. "You guys have hit how many bases in the past five years? Nine? Ten? The people you've killed had families and you know how quick everyone is to blame mutants when something like that happens with such stunning regularity."

"Now look here!" Angela said, springing to her feet. "Have you heard one thing about that on the news? Read it in the papers?"

"Well, no. But that doesn't mean the families haven't questioned the truth behind those deaths."

"Maybe they have, maybe they haven't." I observed as I crushed out my cigar. "Don't change the fact that those assholes are still active, doin' the same shit to other people that they did to us. Or did you forget what they tried to do to you?" He clenched his jaw as he looked down at the floor and I snorted. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Logan, no one is disputing the fact that Weapon X is still active." Xavier said. "It's the methods you employ that have some of us concerned."

It was my turn to stand up. "Why don't you come out an' say it, Chuck? You'd like it better if we left 'em alive."

"I won't deny that I am concerned about the wholesale slaughter the three of you have employed. Perhaps if you would allow one or two of us to accompany you when you go on your next mission…"

"Won't happen, Professor." Angela said. "This isn't your war, it's ours."

"Angela, please just listen…"

"No, Charles! We've been over this time and again! There's nothing else to say on the topic, so just drop it!"

"If I may add something." Kyro said politely. "Angela and Logan-san are correct. This is not a war that we wish to put on your shoulders."

"We're your _friends_, don't you get that?" Rogue piped in. "We want to help you."

I shook my head. "Sorry kid, but we ain't changin' our minds about it. We do this ourselves, period. It's better if you guys just keep bein' the heroes 'round here an' let us do this our way."

"But Logan…"

"I said no, Marie." I looked back to Xavier. "Sorry Chuck, but we ain't leavin' anyone alive who might know even one thing about that project. We've barely scratched the surface o' this thing an' we still got the other four active operatives out there to worry 'bout."

"So what's to stop this 'Director' you're so worried about from sending them here, Logan?" Scott asked. "He has to know that you all live here now."

I shrugged. "If he wanted to do that, it woulda happened by now."

"Guys, it's obvious we can't get through to them, so just drop it ok?" Storm said, standing up to face me. "Logan, we need you around here, all of you. We've said this to each of you time and again. Just promise _me_ that your worst-case scenario will never come true."

"I'd rather cut my own heart out." I said evenly. "Don't think even_ I_ could come back from that."

"Fine. That's good enough for me." She looked at everyone in turn, then left the study, followed closely by Sam. No one else said anything, so I took Angela by the hand and led her out.

I turned to go upstairs to our room, but she held me back. "Logan, I need to burn off some steam." She said.

I turned to her with a smirk. "That's my plan." I growled, pulling her into my arms.

She giggled and hugged me back. "Good plan. But not _exactly_ what I had in mind." She pulled away and the look on her face was oddly unreadable. "I need to run." She looked over her shoulder to the patio doors. The moon was near full out there and I understood what she was saying. Even with everything we'd done to the Weapon X bases, it had been a long time since we'd given in to our feral natures and ran with the night. She pulled me along with her, opened the door quietly and we went out on the patio, just stood there for a while. She lifted her face to the sky, arms open, and closed her eyes. The wind blew her hair all around her face and she looked like some creature out of a legend, the kind of thing you only saw if it was summoned to come after you. When she opened her eyes again, they were gleaming in the dim light. She kicked off her shoes and slid out all of her claws, then shot a wink at me and took off across the lawn towards the woods.

I stood there a bit longer until she'd vanished from my sight before sitting down and taking off my boots. I stripped off my shirt and stood there in only my jeans. The cool night air felt good against my skin and the wind carried the faintest hint of Angela's scent to me. I felt the animal clawing inside my mind to be let loose, so I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and let it go.

My eyes snapped open and I took off across the grounds, following the path she'd taken moments earlier. As soon as I broke into the trees, I stopped and scented the air again, followed her scent to the base of a huge maple and smiled. She'd taken to the high road in an attempt to minimize what scent I could pick up, but this was a game we'd played many times before. We only knew one other person who would understand, so we never told anyone about our occasional late night runs through the grounds. But when you're born with the instincts of an animal, sometimes you have to let the animal have its way or else risk having it take you over completely when you least expect it. Trust me, I know.

I started on my hunt again, stopping here and there to reacquire her scent. I came to a fork in the path and paused in confusion. I could smell her in both directions, the scent equally strong. I closed my eyes and tried to track her by the sounds she might make, but she could move as quietly through the treetops as she could on the ground, so it wasn't any help. I made a snap decision and took the fork on the right. I stalked her through the woods, her scent getting stronger with every step that I took. The path wound through the trees following the general border of the mansion grounds back here. Just off the path to either side were the sensors we'd had installed so many years ago, but I avoided them with ease. After all, I'd helped to set them all up so I knew where they were. Angela did too and if she was on this path, she would have avoided them just as easily. After a few minutes, her scent overwhelmed my senses and I stopped. I looked around and my eyes came to rest on something lying underneath a tree. I approached cautiously, the animal primed for anything. I crouched down and picked up the cargo pants and jacket she'd had on when we'd come outside and smiled again. She must have leapt from tree to tree, possibly taking a more direct route and left her clothing here to throw me off her scent. Clever girl.

I retraced my steps quickly and took the left fork. Again, her scent grew stronger with every step that I took and this was the path that would eventually lead to the stream that bordered the back part of the property. Beyond that stream was more forest, still owned by Xavier as far as I knew, but not a part of the school grounds. We'd gone through the area a few times in the past, but since it wasn't part of what we thought of as our "territory", we hadn't explored it well in all our time here. I growled low in my chest and set off in that direction. No better time than the present.

I heard the stream before I saw it and halted just inside the tree line to scope the area. The bank of the stream here was mostly soft sand and gravel, not exactly the best for leaving footprints or other obvious signs of passage. Add to that her amazing agility and I could imagine that she'd simply leapt from the nearest tree directly into the water to again throw me off her scent. I moved carefully into the open and looked around for signs of her passage, but saw nothing. I crossed the stream to the wilder forest on the other side and was trying to reacquire her scent when the attack happened.

She dropped from a huge oak onto my back with a snarl. I twisted my body and threw her off of me to the ground, where she rolled and sprang to her feet to face me in a crouch. The wind picked up again and she shook her hair out of her eyes in annoyance, licking her lips. With another low growl, I leapt forward and grappled with her, snarling when her claws made contact with my flesh. She writhed in my grasp, spinning on her heel to break my hold on her before flipping away from me to land again in her defensive pose. We circled each other warily, trying to find an opening, a way into the other's guard to end the fight. We moved at the same time, both going low but at the last second she flipped over my head, twisting in the air to land behind me and raked her claws down my back. I gave another snarl as I whipped myself around to face her. Her foot flashed out in an attempt to kick me in the chest, but I grabbed it and threw her to the ground. Before she had a chance to recover, I fell on top of her, pinning her there.

Her eyes were wild and she hissed at me, bucking beneath me in an attempt to throw me off of her, but I was too strong for her. I lowered my head to her neck and inhaled deeply, her scent driving me wild. She was breathing hard, still wriggling about trying to find a way to get away from me but I wasn't having it. I grabbed both of her wrists and pinned her arms to the ground above her head. She gritted her teeth and hissed again, then her head shot forward and she kissed me. I let go of her arms and her claws dug into my shoulders, sending mixed signals of pain and pleasure through my body. I didn't kiss her back so much as I _devoured_ her mouth, my hands traveling over every inch of her exposed skin. She clung to me almost desperately, her arms locked around my shoulders and her legs around my hips. Her hands came forward to grab my hair and I pulled them away again, pinning them over her head. I popped a single claw and deftly cut her panties away. I retracted the claw and using the free hand, I unfastened my jeans and shoved them down to my knees. I thrust my hips forward, inside her at last and she gasped, eyes wide.

Yes, we were mating like animals, out in the wild in the middle of the night. We weren't gentle with each other, not even close. The primal forces that drive us were in complete control and we both surrendered to them entirely. A small part of my mind tried to protest that I _wasn't_ an animal, that this _wasn't_ right, but I'd let the animal take control of me and it wouldn't stop until it was sated. I let go of her wrists and she wrapped her arms around me again, her claws finally retracted back inside her fingers. We nipped and scratched at one another, our bodies locked together. She matched every move I made, every sound, every kiss. It wasn't long before she was crying out with her orgasm, which was enough to push me over the edge. I threw my head back and came with a roar.

And just like that, we were back. "Gods Logan." She said breathlessly.

I traced her lips with my fingertip. "Mm, love you." I said, then rolled over and pulled her on top of me. She leaned down and kissed me softly before she settled in with her head on my chest. "Fuckin' animals, that's all we are."

"Maybe." She whispered, then raised her head. "But you're still _my_ kind of animal." She fell back to my chest and we lay there for a long time, her body warm and still unexpectedly heavy. Yeah, we were animals, still are to this day. But sometimes that's all right.

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**AN:** Four down, at least 21 to go...and here i was trying to bring this in under 25 chapters, but the damn muse keeps whispering to me and giving me all kinds of fun twists to play with...:) Don't ask what they are, you'll see when you get there...:) Special thanks to Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, the best beta readers on the planet...Extra special thanks to DBK(TM) for being not so much a beta reader as a cheerleader and professional beggar...:) Super special thanks to the readers, who prove to me daily that someone else is paying attention besides me...and Super Special Swanky thanks to those who reviewed, who were reeltreble1031, levanna and theNightEnchantress...reeltreble - i answered your question in a PM, did you get it? levanna - Hank's Hank, trying to see what makes something (or someone) tick is just the kind of thing i think he'd do, especially because he cares about her...theNightEnchantress - glad you made it!! If you want to make it easier next time, just hit the "add to story alert" and you'll get updates in your email...:) And a message for a reader who didn't review (this time)...Dee - I didn't wait til after 8am on purpose, it just happened that way...:)

**Ok now, time for all of you non-reviewing readers to take the plunge! Remember, if i get even one new reviewer, i'll post a new chapter right away...otherwise, the next one won't be out til the 14th:)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Just in case you've forgotten, i don't own the X-Men or any of their cool stuff...all of that belongs to Marvel and 20th Century Fox...even Logan, which is a very very sad thing indeed...i'm only borrowing them to have my wicked way with them...especially Logan...:) A whole host of people DO belong to me, including (but not limited to) Angela, Evie, Buzz, Sam, Sarah, Peter and a couple of kids who make their debut in this chapter, Hea and Jung...all my OC's are very skittish about strangers playing with them, so hands off...

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Chapter 5

(Angela)

About three weeks after our romp in the woods, we decided it was time to hit another facility. All told, it had been about four months since our last mission and Kyro, Logan and I were itching to get a little more payback. Ten bases down, only about sixty more to go according to the BCI file. That didn't take into account the scientists, military officers and other personnel that had "retired" in the meantime. Most of those had dropped completely from public view, a few of the scientists were still working in their respective fields, mostly immunology, biochemistry and genetics. The rest were already dead, more than half by their own hands. At least, it was made to look that way. I had my suspicions, but it didn't matter either way.

We'd changed our focus from Europe to Asia for that next mission, a base in North Korea to be exact. Evie had started her kindergarten level classes by that time and was absorbing knowledge at an alarming rate. I wondered secretly if she had a mutation that was manifesting early that was helping her learn so quickly, but Charles assured me it was not the case. We just had an extremely intelligent little girl and I counted myself lucky for that. So, when it came time for us to go to Korea, Rogue helpfully scheduled an all-night "camp out" for her six- to eight-year-olds out on the grounds. Evie was terribly excited about the idea and chattered on about it incessantly the whole week leading up to it. When Saturday came around, we sent her off with kisses, her stuffed bear tucked under her arm.

I turned to Logan once the group vanished into the woods. "You ready lover?"

"As I'll ever be." He replied and slipped his arm around my shoulders. We made our way downstairs to the hangar, where Kyro was already mostly done with the pre-flight routine in Blackbird One. I slipped into the locker room to change into a pair of black cargo pants and a black micro-fiber shirt, long sleeved and fitted like a second skin. I pulled my hair back into a single braid that fell down past the middle of my back, then slipped my feet into a pair of soft shoes. I'd leave those in the jet when we got to our destination, even though Logan preferred I didn't run around on these things barefoot. I wasn't concerned about how my feet would come through this, just the rest of me. As soon as I was put together, I returned to the hangar and boarded the jet.

Kyro gave me a wink as I settled into my usual seat as far from that big window in the front as I could get. Logan came back and gave me a kiss and squeezed my shoulder in reassurance, but he had to return to the co-pilot's seat. I wished like hell that he could sit with me when we went on these things, but it was more important for him to be up front in case he was needed for anything. I closed my eyes and took a few calming breaths in an attempt to meditate, but as soon as the jet was in the air, the familiar panic started to set in. This would be the longest flight I'd been on since the Bad Old Days and I didn't have the advantage of being drugged to the teeth to get through it. I would have asked Hank for something, but I'd been shot up with just about everything and my healing factor had long ago adapted to the sedatives that worked the best. Now, I simply wasn't willing to go through all of that just to have a comfortable flight, so I gritted my teeth and endured the best I could.

Several hours later, Kyro set the jet down as gently as he could about six klicks from our objective. This was going to be one of the more difficult bases to hit, since the North Koreans tend to be seriously overprotective about their military installations, especially the ones they're not supposed to have. As we disembarked, Logan stopped short and looked around him. "Holy shit. I've been here before." He said.

"What?" I asked, an icy finger of fear tickling my spine. "When?"

He furrowed his brow. "Not that long before Stryker grabbed me, a few months or so." He walked to the edge of the clearing where we'd set down the jet and scanned our surroundings. "I was still with the Special Forces then, had a mission to come in and see if they were usin' that base down there to make chemical weapons. Me an' a guy named Langram were sent here." He shook his head sadly. "Ran into a woman named Miko, a cop from Japan. She was here after her father, some kinda rocket scientist. They'd kidnapped him to make him come up with a delivery system for their damn weapons, tortured him. By the time we found him, it was too late."

"Logan, you don't have to go over all of that again." I said and rested my hand lightly on his arm. "That was a long time ago."

He swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah, I know. That whole mission was doomed from the start." He stood there for a few more minutes, lost in thought or memory. Finally, he strode over to a tree and popped a claw, then carved something into the bark. When he was done, he knelt in front of it for a few more minutes, head bowed, eyes closed. I turned away then, sensing that whatever he was doing, this was a private moment for him. Kyro must have felt the same thing, because he joined me a few seconds later. Finally, I heard Logan move again and turned around just in time to watch him kiss his fingers and touch the carving on the tree. "C'mon, let's get this over with." He said and moved soundlessly into the trees.

I stopped for a second by the tree to see what he'd carved there. It was a series of Japanese characters and I'm almost ashamed to admit that I couldn't read them. I turned to Kyro. "Hey, what's this say?" I asked.

"It says 'For Miko Katana, samurai. Vengeance will be yours.' And he has signed it with his name."

I nodded. I didn't need Logan to tell me that this Miko had probably not left this forest alive. Something had happened to her and he now felt it was his duty to exact revenge on her behalf. The fact that he named her 'samurai' told me more about her than if he'd spelled the whole story out for me. My lover is a born warrior with a very clearly defined sense of honor and that day, it was as much about that as it was about revenge.

Kyro and I took to the high road as soon as we hit the trees, with Logan between us on the ground. This was actually an old ploy that we had used back during the Alkali Lake days, since he could take more damage than me – or Kyro, for that matter – and survive. Still, we moved cautiously, from shadow to shadow, tree to tree, making no more sound than the native wildlife that still clung desperately to this forest. After about half an hour, the trees thinned and we got our first look at the base.

We were high above it, a complex of buildings and what appeared to be storage tanks for fuel dotting the area. The tanks gave me pause, because they were so out of place here. Next to the base was a huge dam, easily the same size as the one that had been at Alkali Lake, which should have provided more than enough power for a complex of this size. I was trying to puzzle out the answer when Logan came up noiselessly beside me. "They're camouflage, darlin'." He whispered. "Entrance to the underground complex is inside that one over there." He pointed one out with a snort. "A couple of 'em were used to hide their regular weapons, vehicles, stuff like that. The rest of 'em held the chemicals they were usin' to make their weapons." He sniffed the air and chuckled. "Smells like they ain't been in the chemical weapon business for a while."

"Their secret was out." I replied as I scoped the base. "Even if only one person knew about it and got away, it was out."

He nodded. "An' of course, that had ta be me. I always make it through, no matter what. Lucky me."

"No, lucky _me_." I said and turned to him. "Logan, everything that happened to you brought you to me. Because of that, we now have a beautiful daughter. Don't tell me that it wasn't worth it."

He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. "Yeah, it's worth it. Back then, I didn't know why I was made this way, to always survive. Now I do an' I wouldn't trade it for anythin' in the world."

"Good." I gave him a quick kiss, then turned back to the base with a sigh. "All right, all business now. Coms on, code names only." My eyes hardened and I swallowed hard. "Let's kill them all."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Three hours later, we stumbled away from the base, then broke into a run to make it to the shelter of the forest. I adjusted the heavy backpack that was filled with disks and files that we had gleaned from their offices, more information that we hoped would eventually lead us to the Director. Logan and Kyro adjusted burdens of their own.

They were children, barely ten years old and feral like us. Logan had found them, scenting them out when we'd finally found the lab. He'd left Kyro and I to take care of whoever and whatever he found in there, which was not a pretty sight. Not being content to experiment on mutants they knew would heal, the so-called "people" in this facility were attempting to force a healing factor onto other mutants with useful powers. The lab contained their failures, mutants in various stages of dissection, some of them as young as twelve. My rage knew no boundaries and it was only the frightened cries of the children that brought me back far enough to go and see what Logan had found.

They were being kept in tiny cages hardly big enough for them to stretch out in. They were barely coherent and it was obvious they'd been tortured, probably in an attempt to make their mutations manifest early. Had I not rounded the corner in time to watch Logan decapitate the last of the guards posted on them, I would have ripped them to pieces myself. It wasn't until I tried to coax them out of their cages that I realized the monsters here had succeeded in their torture when the little girl produced claws not unlike mine and tried to rip my throat out. I scrambled away from her, the claws barely scratching my neck, before I eased myself forward again and showed her my own claws. Her eyes widened with surprise and she started babbling to me in Korean. It was Kyro who saved the day on that one, Korean being one of the only languages that Logan didn't speak. He whispered to them softly and eventually they rushed to him in tears. I know the Japanese have a reputation for being emotionally distant, but not our Totem.

The girl was named Hea, while the little boy was called Jung. They'd been taken from their village more than two years previous, their parents killed. How the people here had known they were X gene positive was beyond me and I didn't have time to worry about that. Logan and I made another quick circuit through the base to make sure we'd gotten everyone, then went through and stole as many files and other information as we could. It wasn't until we were on the way out that we made a startling discovery, which prompted our extremely hasty retreat. Someone had rigged a self-destruct mechanism, which would go off if a certain command wasn't entered into the computer every three hours. We'd hit the base just after it had been last entered and we barely had enough time to make it clear. Leaving much more behind than we would have liked, we grabbed the kids and ran for our lives.

We'd only made it a few yards into the forest before the whole place blew sky-high. Logan and Kyro threw themselves on top of the children to protect them, while I was thrown to the earth by the shockwave. I lay there stunned for a moment, coughing, but recovered soon enough. We kept running as fast as we could until we got to the top of the hill where we'd left the jet and not a moment too soon. The dam that had been holding back the river for so long gave under the combination of the pressure from the water and the damage it took from the blast. I cursed softly, pissed off that I'd been denied the chance to leave our calling card someplace where others would find it. Then I thought of the memorial Logan had left for a woman long dead and smiled. So it wasn't in letters big enough to read from a hundred yards, but it was carved into that tree: Vengeance. Eventually, the people we were after would find that and they would know we'd been here. And that we were still coming for them.

We arrived back at the mansion tired and dirty, but also strangely calm. We hadn't known what to do about the children, so we simply brought them back with us. The Professor still knew how to get a hold of Bennington; maybe he could find the rest of their families for them. If not, they could always stay here with us. I had a feeling that Kyro would like that very much. After eleven missions, we'd finally managed to save someone and if they were the only ones, it would be enough.

Kyro took the children with him to the room he'd shared with Chasca for the past four years, figuring they'd feel better if they had someone they could actually speak to. Logan and I agreed and bade them a weary goodnight before shambling back to our own room. I barely had the energy to bathe before I fell facedown on the bed, asleep almost instantly. I woke up enough to snuggle into Logan when he followed suit after his own shower, wrapped my arms around him and drifted off again.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_"…Thank you, Hellcat. She's perfect." He says, his voice low. "Don't worry, you'll see her again someday, when we send her to kill you and your lover..."_

I sat bolt upright with a gasp, claws out, looking around wildly but there was nothing to see. Logan followed suit a heartbeat later, his own claws visible just below the surface of his skin. I let out a breath and gave him a weak smile. "Sorry lover. False alarm." I apologized.

He dry-washed his face and sighed. "Angela, you're gonna be the death of me I swear."

"Maybe, but not because I woke up from a bad dream. I have other ways of taking you out. Wanna go for another forest romp tonight?"

He smiled at me mischievously and moved in for a kiss. He had just slid his hand under my tank top when the door burst open, admitting a flurry of boundless energy. "Mommy! Daddy! I had so much fun!" Evie shouted as she jumped on the bed between us. "Aunt Marie showed us bugs an' plants an' stars an' all kinds of stuff!"

"Ah, but did she show you how to get away from _this_?" Logan growled and started tickling her. She screeched with laughter and I smiled as I watched the two of them. After a few seconds, she wriggled away and started tickling him back, which turned into a battle royale for supremacy. Finally, she jumped on his stomach and his breath went out of him in a rush. "I give up! You beat me again!"

"Yay! I beat Daddy! I beat Daddy!" She hopped to her feet and jumped up and down on the bed. I looked at her sternly and she sat just as quickly. "I wasn't jumpin'." She said with all seriousness.

"I suppose I can let you slide, since you had such a stunning victory against your Daddy." I replied and she threw herself into my arms. "So, tell us about the camping trip."

She launched into a long and involved description of everything that had happened, starting with the plant tour Rogue gave them of the woods and ending with one of her classmates falling into the stream right before bedtime. Then, her face grew strangely serious. "An' then, after I was sleepin', I dreamed about the bad men."

I looked at her strangely. "What bad men, sweetie?"

"The bad men, with the guns an' the rockets an' stuff. They come in here an' they try to take me away." She sighed and sat back against me. "Aunt Marie says it's just dreamin' an' then she let me sleep with her all night."

I looked at Logan over her head, then kissed her and shooed her off the bed. "Why don't you go on down to breakfast honey and Mommy and Daddy will be down in a minute, all right?"

"Ok Mommy." She kissed me wetly on the cheek and repeated the process with Logan before scrambling out the door. "Hey Wendy, wait for me!" She yelled when she hit the hallway, then took off at a run.

I crossed the room and shut the door before turning back to Logan. "Lover, we need to talk."

"About what?" He asked. I told him about the dream I'd had twice now and how it was so close to what Evie had just told us. I still swear that I am not psychic, never have been, but somehow Evie was dreaming the same things I dreamed. Or was I dreaming hers? I rubbed my forehead in an attempt to relieve the tension. Trying to figure this out was just a bit beyond me first thing in the morning. When I was done, he looked at me with a hint of panic in his eyes. "Darlin', do you think they know? About her?"

"I don't know. But I do not intend to let that dream come true."

"Don't worry, it won't." He gathered me into his arms and kissed the top of my head. "So long as I'm alive, it won't." That was all the comfort I needed.

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**AN:** Hmm, what's this? The plot thickens, bwahahahahahahahaha!!! Five down and i can OFFICIALLY say 21 and an epilogue to go...:) Yes, i've been slacking on my NaNoWriMo project to finish this, mostly because it was being really demanding and wanted lots of attention...:) Special thanks to Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, my beta readers and bestest buds on the planet...Extra special thanks to DBK(TM) for letting me know i forgot to send him chapter 23, eek! And for being such a huge supporter...:) Super Special thanks to my readers, for sticking with me...and Super Swanky Special thanks to my reviewers, who were levanna, reeltreble1031 and theNightEnchantress...levanna - you're the only one who really had something that looked like it NEEDS an answer so...this story is following a nine year story arc...so the passage of time will be quick and several chapters are headed with "blah years later"...i tried to make it ten years, but then there'd be like 40 chapters by the time i was done and nine works just as well for the story...don't worry about missing Evie, she's in the story more as it progresses...and she'll play a much bigger role in the next one...yes, there's a next one, you may all happy dance now...:) 

**Now for all you readers who haven't reviewed, why not give it a try? As a reward, i'll post a new chapter as soon as i get your review! Don't be afraid of that little button down there, it doesn't bite...:)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

(Logan)

We met with Chuck a few days later to talk about this dream my girls were sharing. Angela still denied having any kind of psychic ability - and I know she wasn't lying - and the Professor agreed. As he put it, even normal humans sometimes have flashes of intuition that can be frighteningly accurate. But there had to be a reason for it and so, the meeting.

"Logan, it's true." Xavier said calmly. "It doesn't happen often and most people are quick to discount it, but it does happen. And I know that Dr. McCoy has already explored the possibility that there _is_ a psychic mutation in Angela's family that skips a generation."

"It still don't make any sense to me." I said. "Can you be sure that Evie's not pickin' up on Angela? Or Evie's sendin' to her? One hundred percent?"

"I suppose there's a possibility of that, but I've never seen a psychic mutation manifest itself this early."

"An' just how many mutant couples do you know that have kids, Chuck?"

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You're right, I don't personally know of any others." He looked at Angela, his expression slightly pained. "I hate to ask this of you, but do you remember what Emma's mutations were?"

She shook her head. "No clue. We were kept separate at the base most of the time. They only brought her to me every few months as a 'reward' for good behavior." She lowered her eyes to the floor. "I hadn't seen in her in almost two months when she died." She sat there silent for a moment, then took a deep breath to compose herself. "But they did say she wasn't a feral like me, so I guess anything's possible."

"Chuck, I don't like the possibility that this 'Director' is lookin' for my girls." I said with a growl. "We can't be sure that Stryker didn't tell this guy that I was livin' here. An' we know he had telepaths workin' for him back then. What's to say he didn't have other psychics too?"

"What have Buzz and Sage found in the files you've been collecting?"

I sighed. "Not much. Doesn't look like they kept detailed records on anyone that wasn't bein' trained up as a weapon."

"I see." He looked thoughtful for a bit before he continued. "Well, perhaps I will contact our Mr. Bennington again and see if he has any information that would be useful."

"Charles, I…" Angela began, then hesitated. We both looked at her and she took another deep breath. "No, don't bother him. If he had others, we'll find out. I don't know how uncommon psychic mutations are, but I'm betting that telepathy is the most common among them. If he had…_has_ others, they'll be kept somewhere really secure. And secret."

"Darlin', Bennington's already shown us he can find out anythin'."

"Yes, he can. Anything that's been recorded. But there's nothing in the files he gave us and nothing in the files we've recovered. This 'Director' isn't even mentioned by name and he's the only one out of the entire program who isn't. Don't you think that's a little odd?"

"What are you suggesting?" Xavier asked.

"Well, Bennington claims that his bureau has never been infiltrated, there's never been a leak from his office. Maybe there hasn't been a _public_ leak, but what if someone _is_ leaking information to the Director? And then losing that information so no one can find out?"

"You think he's got a mole?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No. What if he's the one doing it?" I stared at her in disbelief, the silence stretching out. "I'm serious Logan! We still don't really know the truth behind Weapon X. We know _who_ is involved, but not _why_. What's to say it wasn't started as a way to help Bennington out, but after his bureau got taken off the books in the forties it went wrong? You'd have all these people researching a way to make the perfect soldier, someone who would uphold the Constitution against all enemies, then suddenly they're told to stop? Who would be able to stop them? We already know that's when they made Captain America, which eventually led to us. How many others have we missed?"

"Darlin', it just don't make any sense." I said and reached for her, but she shrugged my hand away. "C'mon, think about it."

"I have, Logan, for a long time now. What's the perfect way to hide something you don't want anyone to see?"

The Professor groaned. "In plain sight." He rubbed his eyes and for the first time since I met him, he looked old and tired. "I didn't do a deep scan on his mind when he was here, just touched on his surface thoughts. It is entirely possible that she is correct."

I sat down heavily, the chair creaking beneath me. "An' I thought _I_ was paranoid." I looked at my woman, standing by the window with her arms wrapped around herself. "So what do we do now?"

"We're infiltrators, right? I say we find out where his office is and see how good we really are."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Over the next three weeks, Xavier monitored Bennington using Cerebro to get an idea of his schedule. The guy was dedicated, I'll give him that, but that was what made our plan so risky in the first place. Twelve-hour days were not uncommon for him and he didn't seem to have any regular days off. He'd work for three, take one off, work six more, take two off; it was impossible to find a pattern to it. Finally, we decided to just wait until he left his office one day and go in then, which introduced an entirely new set of problems.

I've said it hundred of times and I'll say it again; you can always tell how black a black op is by how much of the facility is underground. Bennington's entire office complex was underground and to say that made me unhappy is probably the understatement of the century. The majority of it was located about two stories beneath the Washington Monument, with the entrance cleverly hidden inside the station at L'Enfant Plaza for the DC Metro. There were other entrances in the Smithsonian and Federal Center Southwest stations, but it seemed they were never used and we assumed that meant they were only for emergency purposes. But that was all the information that Buzz needed to find us another way in.

As soon as he knew where the BCI office was and how to get in, it only took him about three days to locate the power, water and sewer access to the complex. Based on those schematics and some recon photos that Kyro took for us, he even managed to map out the ventilation system with fair accuracy. Once we had that is when it got tricky.

We couldn't ask Xavier to camp out in Cerebro and watch Bennington's every move for us, so we had to come up with another way to track his movements. Angela and I thought that Gamma team would be the perfect squad to send for forward recon, especially because none of them had been seen in public yet. Scott and Storm thought otherwise.

"If you won't let us help you, why should we let you send those children out into the field before they're ready?" Storm was arguing with me, pretty much nose to nose. She's the only other woman besides Angela and Rogue who's never been even a little afraid of me.

"We ain't sendin' them into the field." I argued back. "We're sendin' them to the nation's capitol with cameras an' a perfectly capable teacher on a field trip. If they happen to get some shots of Bennington or some air ducts, it's even better."

"What makes you think he won't recognize any of them?" Scott asked, always on the defensive. "He seemed to know an awful lot about us."

"It don't matter. We're allowed to do field trips. Everyone else does 'em. Now, if he saw me an' Angela in charge of 'em, he might get suspicious. But Sam? Not a chance."

"It's still a terrible risk to take with them. What if something goes wrong?"

"Scott, you can't protect them forever." Angela said and I could hear how frustrated she was. "And these kids want to help. Seriously, no one is going to look at a bunch of kids from a prep school on field trip to DC. They'll be half a dozen teenagers amongst thousands just like them. And they'll only be gone for two days."

"Why can't you send someone from Beta team? Or hell, even a couple more of us with Sam?"

"We don't want 'em to draw too much attention, Cyke." I snapped. "Six kids only need one person to look out for 'em."

"I don't understand why you want to send the kids when you have three other teams of perfectly capable adults." Storm said.

Angela rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair. "We've been over this, 'Ro. All the other teams are trained to work as a team and when you get them in the field, they fall into that pattern. When we're in combat or rescue, that's perfect. Gamma team is still trying to prove they have what it takes to be ON a team, they haven't learned that dynamic yet. Besides, they'll just be doing recon, taking some pictures of the sights. We _want_ them to act like kids on a field trip."

Storm threw up her hands. "I don't even know why we bother trying to argue with you two. Once you get your minds made up, there's no talking to either one of you."

"Damn straight." I said. "This is what we've been trained to do, darlin' an' we're very good at it. We wouldn't send 'em if we thought they couldn't handle it."

"And Sam will take good care of them." Angela added. "He can fly all of the jets and he's more than powerful enough to protect them. And it's not like they're completely helpless, you know. They have their own powers and they know how to use them."

"I just can't believe you're willing to throw these kids on the line in your little vendetta, Logan." Scott said. "It's misuse of your authority."

"Excuse me?" I shouted, leaping to my feet. "Would you rather we left the rest of that damned project out there to grab another person an' fuck 'em over like they did to us? Have you heard the way Jung screams in the middle o' the night?" One-Eye paled and swallowed hard. Of course he'd heard the screaming; everyone had. Hea just didn't say anything. Ever. Except to Kyro. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Maybe people ain't linin' up with torches to burn us all at the stake anymore, but there's still plenty o' people out there willin' to use us any way they can. I ain't havin' it."

"Me either." Angela said. "I think of those people getting a hold of Rahne, or Kyle, or Evie and…no, we won't stop, not until they're all dead."

Scott crossed the room and stood over my woman. "That's what this is about, isn't it? You think they're after your daughter."

"What the fuck does that matter, Summers? You got a problem with me trying to protect my family?" She took a step forward, her eyes hard. "Cuz if you do, then we have a very serious problem here."

"Scott, I think maybe you should back off." Storm whispered, eyes wide.

"Yeah Scott. Back off." Angela said. "I will do whatever I have to do to protect my family and I don't just mean Logan and Evie. But if you think I've gone too far, that's fine. I can take out these bastards without the resources here. I have the files, I have money and I have time. Say the word, we're outta here."

Scott looked from her to me and back again. "You wouldn't."

"Try me." I said, laying my arm across Angela's shoulders. "Don't get us wrong, we like it here. But this is somethin' we gotta do, not just for ourselves. If ya don't like it, we'll go and we'll find another way." Scott just looked at both of us before lowering his eyes to the ground with a sigh. He knew we were right, he just didn't like the part where we left him out of this particular loop. Too bad.

"All right." He said, backing off. "You win, again, as usual. I don't even know why the Professor keeps me in charge of the teams with you two around."

"Because you're a great leader for the normal missions." Angela said. "But this isn't a normal mission, none of these are or ever will be. And it gives you deniability in the end if you don't know more than you have to."

"Fine, send the kids on their fake field trip. But I swear, if any of them comes back with so much as a singed hair on their heads, you'll answer to me personally."

"Sure Cyke," I said with a smirk. "Whatever you say."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Three days later, Sam returned with Gamma team from DC. Even though we'd sent them to do recon for us, Sam had treated it like a real field trip and given them a bit of a history lesson while he was there. I'm sure that Storm had probably had something to do with that, but I didn't care. They came back with some good pictures of the vents for the air system to the BCI offices. But the most important part was the fact that Specter had managed to plant a very small digital camera near the main entrance to the offices in the L'Enfant Plaza station. It only had enough battery for about three days, so we had to hope that we'd get our chance before it died. For once, we had a stroke of good luck.

Angela and I were sleeping soundly after a particularly vigorous bout of lovemaking. Our day had been filled with defense classes and Danger Room sessions, which always left us with extra reserves of energy that we liked to take out on each other. So once those reserves were exhausted, we slept much better for it and I for one really liked that. Since my memories had begun to come back all those years ago, I'd slept better but still not the greatest. I was still plagued by the occasional nightmare of the tank at Alkali Lake, but with far less frequency than before. It was much happier for both of us.

I had just started a really good dream involving me, my woman and a beach at sunset when the internal com started beeping in my ear. I groaned and pulled the pillow over my head, hoping it would stop but of course it didn't. I felt Angela reach over me to pick it up. She mumbled something that vaguely sounded like "whatthehellyouwant", then slammed the com down without another word. "Lover, it's time." She said.

I sat straight up. "He's outta there?"

She nodded. "Come on, we don't have much time."

We bolted out of bed and pulled on what clothes came to hand. I went down to the hangar to help Kyro with the jet while Angela went to get Rogue to watch over Evie while we were gone. She boarded the jet less than five minutes later.

Finding a secret place to land in the DC area would be all but impossible, so we shamelessly made use of our hard-won status as superheroes to simply land at the airport. When the authorities asked us what the problem was, we lied and told them we had received a report of a possible mutant attack at L'Enfant Plaza that was supposed to take place during the morning rush and we were simply there to confirm that before we deployed the rest of the team. They offered their assistance, like always, but we declined, like always. No sense in letting them know what we were really up to.

We had also brought our own transportation in the form of three of One-Eye's motorcycles. We told the local police to wait for our call, that we'd let them know first if there was any reason for alarm, then took off as fast as we could. I was still shaking my head in wonder at how easy it was to deceive them. I felt kind of bad, taking advantage of our superhero status, but we didn't have much choice. And I didn't feel bad about it for too long.

Once we got to the general area of the Washington Monument, we stashed the bikes and set out on foot. We had memorized the maps that Buzz had made that showed where the air vents were to the underground complex and we had agreed to use the one furthest from the main entrance. It was located at the far end of the mall, cleverly hidden among some evergreen bushes. We did a quick recon of the general area, looking for sensors or monitors, but there was nothing. Bennington was counting on the fact that no one even knew the place existed to keep the vulnerable points safe, his first mistake. I popped out my claws and carefully cut away some of the branches to expose the vent in the ground, then used them to pry away the grate. It was too dark to see very far down the shaft, so Angela elected to go first.

She eased herself down, tossing a wink up at me before she started her descent. After a few tense moments, she spoke over the com. "Ok boys, it's about thirty feet straight down. I don't suggest you jump."

"Copy that. Be there in a few." I replied, then turned to Kyro. "You wanna go next?"

He bowed. "But of course, Wolverine." I watched as the darkness swallowed him, then waited a few seconds before going in myself. I replaced the grate as well as I could behind me, then started my climb down. Naturally, the sides were smooth metal, so I had to slide down by sheer strength, pressing my hands and feet in front of me. It still didn't take long before I made it to the bottom.

It was pitch black at the bottom of the airshaft, but that didn't matter so much. I could navigate just fine with my nose and since I knew Bennington's scent, I wasn't worried. The duct we were in led us about forty feet before we came to the vent we needed. According to the schematics Buzz had found, we were right above a tunnel that gave access to the phone and electrical wires for the BCI office. We were also directly below the reflecting pool at the base of the Monument, which gave me some idea of how far we had to go before we'd find a way into the actual complex. Dim yellow lights were spaced about twenty feet apart down the length of the tunnel, giving us just enough illumination to see exactly where we were. We set off silently towards our goal.

We encountered nothing but the occasional rat as we slipped through the tunnel. About ten minutes later, we came across the door that would lead to the main sub-basement of the complex, which was made of thick steel and obviously locked. I popped a claw and jammed it between the door and the frame, pulling down hard and slicing through the bolts like they were paper. We waited a moment for any indication that a security system had picked this up, but nothing happened. I eased the door open and still nothing happened. I waved the others inside ahead of me and closed the door. We were in.

From that point on, we were flying blind. We had a general sense of the layout thanks to the power and water schematics, but nothing really specific to tell us where Bennington's office was. The room we were currently standing in seemed to be used for storage, old office equipment stacked along the walls. I covered the door we'd come through while Angela and Kyro set off in search of another exit. A few seconds later, Kyro whispered over the com that he'd found it. I waited for Angela to pass me before leaving my position to follow her.

Kyro stood before a plain wooden door, much like any other door in any basement in a normal office building. We stood there for a moment, listening for any activity on the other side, but there was nothing. Again, I went first, turning the knob slowly and easing the door open. I caught the scents of many people, but they were old and no one had been in this part of the sub-basement for a few weeks at least. I stepped into the hallway and the others followed me, closing the door behind us. Low-watt bulbs hung from the ceiling, a few of them burned out, leaving deep pools of shadow along the walls but I didn't worry about them. We were very much alone down there. Perfect.

We set off down the hallway, pausing only to listen at various doors and check out the rooms for anything of interest. Angela was hoping to find a file room or archive of some sort down here, but I believed that it was more likely to be found in the main complex above rather than down here. Something like that would need to be secure if not physically guarded, so having it where Bennington could keep some sort of eye on it made more sense to me. Fifteen minutes after we'd stepped into this hallway, she finally agreed that I might just be right. Women.

At the far end of the hallway, we came across both the elevator and the stairs that led to the main part of the complex. Obviously, we took the stairs because we didn't want to alert anyone who might still be working in here to our presence, not to mention the part where we were committing felony trespassing in a government facility. I checked the door over for any kind of alarms, but since this was an internal stairwell and not an emergency exit, there was nothing. The door was unlocked, so I opened it carefully and waved the others inside ahead of me.

There were helpful signs on each landing, indicating where we were in the complex, so we safely ignored the next floor up, which was simply called "Sub-Basement Level One". Above that we came to "Bureau for Constitutional Integrity, Main Offices". Kyro shifted into his half-panther form, which gave him the best hearing out of any of us and listened at the door. A few seconds later, he gave us a nod and tried the door handle. It turned easily, so he carefully opened the door and peeked out, then slipped through into the main offices. Angela followed him with me right behind her and the door swung closed with an almost inaudible _click_. Now the real fun could begin.

The hall we were in was short, no more than twelve feet. I smiled as I thought about an op Angela and I had gone on in our previous life together, when we'd had to infiltrate a top-secret base in China. It too had been hidden deep underground, beneath a harmless-looking garment factory. The factory itself was a front, even though it employed hundred of legitimate workers. Thirty feet below the surface was the real purpose, a lab thought to be used in the development of chemical and biological weapons. What we hadn't known at the time (and didn't discover until much later, when Bennington handed us the Weapon X file) was that it was another Weapon X facility. So yeah, I suppose it could be said that it was used to develop biological weapons. Our job back then had been to retrieve some computer files and to kill the project leader. Angela had been in a truly foul mood that night and had requested the assassination part of the mission, leaving me to retrieve the files Stryker had wanted. The BCI offices reminded me of that base in one very important way. Since no one knew they were there except the people who worked there, internal security was pretty much non-existent. The heavily guarded places were the main entrances. Once you were inside, people just assumed you belonged there. I'm sure they used some kind of key cards or ID badges as well, but at this time of night there was no one to challenge our presence or demand to see our badges. The arrogance of government agencies will never cease to amaze me.

We paused in the hallway and I took a moment to breathe in the different scents that lingered in the air. The complex itself was spread out over an area equal to a couple city blocks, so we'd decided earlier that I would try to sniff out Bennington's office while Angela and Kyro went in search of the archives. With a couple hundred years worth of files, it was safe to assume that most of them were on computer. But if this was like any other intelligence agency, they would have plenty on hard copy too and that's what we were after. After a moment, I parsed out Bennington's scent and opened my eyes. The three of us leaned in close to each other and spoke in harsh whispers.

"I'm gonna find his office an' see what's there." I said. "This place is pretty huge, so if you don't find what we're lookin' for in twenty minutes, come back here an' wait unless one of us asks for an assist. Questions?"

"What should we do if we run into someone?" Kyro asked.

"Disable 'em but don't kill 'em. We ain't here on revenge today, even if this guy is the leak. We'll worry 'bout that later, if we have to." He nodded and I looked at the two of them again, but neither one had anything else to ask. I gave Angela a quick kiss and the three of us set off on our tasks.

I prowled quickly through the dimly lit halls, following the scent through the complex. Bennington didn't seem to be the kind of guy who stayed in his office and ruled this bureau from on high, which made my job a bit easier. As I wound through the cubicles and past meeting rooms, his scent grew stronger and I knew I was on the right track. I finally came to where the cubicles gave way to regular offices again and smiled. I slipped down the hallway and ignored the doors to either side in favor of the double doors at the end. Sure enough, a brass plate imprinted with his name hung in the center of the right hand door. I paused for a moment to listen, making sure there was no one in there before trying the knob. The door swung open easily and I slipped inside.

There was a small lamp burning on the desk, a kind of night-light I'm sure. The first thing I noticed was the huge window behind the massive desk. I cocked my head in confusion for a second. Why would there be windows in an underground complex? A heartbeat later, I all but smacked myself. Even normal people don't like to be cooped up in a box all day; they like to be able to see outside whenever they want. I crept closer to the desk and noticed fake trees and a cleverly painted backdrop on the other side of the glass. I was even willing to bet that there was a full-spectrum light fixed in there to mimic sunlight during his office hours. I shook my head and turned from the artificial scene to the desk.

It was just like any other executive desk, except this one was covered with papers and files in neat stacks. Whatever else he might be, Bennington was still a hands-on kind of guy. I'm sure he had other people who took care of the day-to-day stuff, but there would be certain things he considered too sensitive to trust to an underling, no matter how much he trusted the person. Take the X-Men, for example. His bureau had known about us for much longer than he'd been personally overseeing our operation. Hell, he probably employed the same techniques for gathering intelligence on us that we used ourselves, like high-res satellite surveillance, the occasional live recon teams and, of course, hacking into computers. Of course, we had at least one computer that hadn't been hacked and another that _couldn't_ be hacked, since it was never connected to the outside world. I hoped that we would never lose Buzz to this guy, even if he turned out to be just what he appeared to be.

I rifled through the papers on the desk, but nothing leapt out at me immediately. I glanced down at my watch, saw that I still had plenty of time and turned my search to a series of tall cabinets that were to the left of the desk. These were locked, so I popped a claw and worked it into the crack between the doors until I felt the lock give way. I sheathed the blade and eased the door open a crack, then let it swing the rest of the way on its own. I cursed softly under my breath when I saw the hundreds of hard copy files resting neatly in the roll out shelves. I checked my watch again and sighed. I didn't have time to look through them all, so I pulled out the bottom shelf and started looking for anything marked "Weapon X". About two-thirds of the way through the row, I hit pay dirt and pulled the file out.

I set the file down and started looking through it, but it didn't seem to have anything in it that wasn't also in the file we had back at the mansion. I had just replaced it and started to look for anything on the three of us or Stryker when I heard a faint sound in the hallway outside. I looked around for a place to hide and spied a door in the corner. I quietly closed the file cabinet and slipped into what turned out to be a private washroom. I left the door open a crack, which gave me a pretty good view of the office and waited. A few seconds later, a figure that was not Kyro, Angela _or_ Bennington came into view.

He was a little under six feet tall and wide through the shoulders, yet he moved almost as silently as I could. He didn't bother to look around to see if there was anyone else in the office with him, since the place was supposed to be deserted. However, he did move directly over to Bennington's desk and started going through the stuff there much as I had. After about a minute, he turned to the same cabinet I'd just broken into and started working on the lock. Of course, he had no way of knowing it was already seriously broken, but he didn't seem to notice the difference and swung the doors open after a few seconds. He pulled out the top drawer and started skimming the files, pulling one out here and there before replacing them. I eased the washroom door open and crept across the room, coming up behind him just as he started to turn with a file in his hand. I grabbed him from behind, wrenching his arm behind his back and grabbed his throat with my free hand. "Whatcha doin', bub?" I growled.

He surprised me when he tried to fight. He brought his head back hard, smacking me right in the nose and I heard a crack as the cartilage broke. I growled louder, beating back the animal in my head that wanted nothing more than to gut this asshole and spit on the corpse, but I needed information more than I needed to kill this guy. I spun him around, shoved him back into the open cabinet and held him there by the throat as I popped the claws on my other hand. His eyes widened in shock and he whispered a single word. "Wolverine."

"Ah, I see my reputation precedes me. Good." I replied. I shook my head a bit as my nose righted itself, then glanced down at the floor to the file that he'd dropped when I grabbed him, but the light was too dim for me to make out more than "eyes only" written on the front. I looked back into his eyes with a scowl. "Wanna tell me what the hell you think you're doin'?"

"I could ask the same of you." He hissed. "Last time I checked, you didn't have the clearance to get into this place."

"I got all the clearance I need right here." I gestured with my claws. "So, we were right an' there is a mole in this place. Wonder what ol' Bennington'll think o' that."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

I knew he was lying; even half broken, the nose is never wrong. "Try again pal." I retracted my claws and tapped my earpiece. "Hellcat, Totem, I found the rodent. Find Bennington's office an' meet me there."

I heard them both say "affirmative" even as the guy in front of me grew pale. He swallowed hard. "They're here? With you, right now?"

"What, you think I'd leave the other two people that Stryker screwed over outta this? You people gettin' dumber or what?" We stood there like that for a few minutes until the others came bursting into the office. They both looked ready for a fight, but relaxed when they saw I had the guy under control for the moment. "Hellcat, find somethin' to tie this guy up with, would ya?" She nodded once and looked around, then finally settled on the tiebacks for the curtains on the fake window. I whipped this guy around again and tied his hands behind his back, then used the other one on his feet before shoving him into the chair behind the desk. He glared at me angrily and I just smiled. I scooped up the file and looked at it more closely. Besides "eyes only", the only other thing written on the front were the words "Department K". I scowled at the guy again before handing the file off to Kyro. "So, who the fuck are you an' what are you doin' here?"

"I have nothing to say to you, freak!" He spat even as he struggled against his bonds.

"Oh yeah?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "Since you seem to know who we are, I'm guessin' that means ya know somethin' of our history. So how 'bout you just answer me, or I'll let Hellcat loose on ya." I smirked as his eyes grew wider. "Yeah, you know how much she loves to play."

"Like a cat with a mouse." She hissed, moving next to me. "Or a mole, as it stands." She slid her claws out and ran them gently down his cheek in a gesture that was almost intimate, then leaned in close to him. "I'm sure you'll scream just as pretty as the rest of them." She whispered.

"No! Please, don't." He begged and she backed off, crossing her arms. "I-I do know all about you. But I swear, I didn't have a choice!"

"Talk." I said, but he just glared at me again and I sighed. "Fine, have it your way. Hellcat?"

Angela smiled, but before she could lay even one claw on him, Kyro cleared his throat. We all turned to look at him. "I have a thought," he began, "that perhaps it would be better if we brought in a…higher authority?"

"Dahell you talkin' 'bout Totem?" I snapped.

"It occurs to me that his boss might be interested to know that one of his own has betrayed him."

Angela frowned. "Totem, you do realize that we're breaking about a gazillion laws just being here, right?"

"Yes, I know that. But Mr. Bennington also knows that we mean him and this country no harm. I think he would be kind enough to look the other way."

I crossed my arms and thought about it for a minute. Totem was right, after all. Now that we knew Bennington wasn't a threat and never had been, we wouldn't hurt him. And we had found out that there was a leak, even if it wasn't a public one. I looked over to Angela, "Hellcat…" I began but she cut me off.

"Hell no, Wolverine. This asshole is the _only_ link we have to whoever this 'Director' is. I am not letting him go until we know what he knows!"

"I ain't suggestin' we do that!" I said. "But Totem's right, Bennington ain't gonna do anythin' to us for bein' here. An' I'll bet he can get all the info we want outta this guy without gettin' blood on the carpet."

"Since when are you so concerned about that?"

"Don't worry darlin'. I'm sure this guy won't live to see tomorrow anyway. Call Bennington."

She scowled at me, but reached over and picked up the phone. After a few moments of pushing buttons, she finally found a directory that gave all the numbers for everyone who worked here, then dialed his cell number. After a short pause, she spoke. "Bennington, it's Hellcat. Come to your office, we have something to show you." She replaced the phone on the cradle and crossed her arms. "I hope you're right, Wolverine. I'd hate for our daughter to grow up without parents."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Forty minutes later, we caught the sound of footsteps approaching the office doors. We were immediately on guard, not sure if he'd come alone or not, but as the sound came closer, the only scent I could detect was Bennington's, so I relaxed and the others followed suit. A few seconds later, he stepped into the office and stopped short when he saw the scene in front of him. He closed the door behind him and looked at me with a smirk. "Well, you certainly took your time." He said with a touch of irony.

I raised an eyebrow. "Whattaya mean by that?"

"Honestly? I expected you three a long time ago." He touched a control on the wall next to him and the overhead lights came on. Squinting against the sudden brightness, I watched as he crossed over to where we were all standing, the mole still tied up in the oversized executive chair behind the desk. "So, would you like to explain to me why you are holding Mr. Maxwell hostage in my office?"

Without a word, Kyro slapped the Department K file down on the desk, took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest. Bennington picked it up and began to leaf through it, a frown on his face. "Wolverine caught this man going through your files." Kyro said, his face serene.

"And what was Mr…Wolverine doing in here in the first place?"

"Dahell you think I was doin'?" I snapped. "Goin' through your files. 'Cept I wasn't here to steal anythin'."

"Then why are you here?"

Angela sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "As I'm sure you'll remember, you once gave us a set of keys to certain facilities spread over the globe that might be of interest to us." She said and Bennington nodded, understanding her coded words. "Well, over the past several years, we have…visited those places and we keep coming up with one person who is directly responsible for what happened to us. Unfortunately, the only name this person has is 'The Director'." Mr. Maxwell gasped and we all looked at him. He was struggling against the ropes holding him, so I popped my claws and pointed them at his face; he stopped. Angela scowled at him and went on. "So, we figured that someone was keeping his real identity away from everyone - even you - since his name wasn't included with the keys you gave us. To be perfectly honest, I thought it might have been you."

"Me? You thought that I would do such a thing? That's absurd!" He came around the desk and stood in front of Maxwell. "However, by your reaction to her statement, I'm assuming that you are the one that's kept the name of this 'Director' out of my files?"

"Screw you Bennington, you mutie piece of trash!" He spat. "A freak like you shouldn't be in charge of this place! A true American should be sitting in this chair, not you!"

"A true American?" Bennington said and his voice was as cold as ice. "You think I am not a true American? I fought alongside George Washington himself to ensure our independence! Pray, what have _you_ done for your country, other than commit treason?"

"I've never betrayed America!"

"By coming in here and altering documents that contain information vital to upholding the integrity of the Constitution, you did just that. Or did you never read your contract before you signed it to work here?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Glock. "Do you know what the penalty is for treason? Death by firing squad and I have been on every firing squad since the beginning." He thumbed the safety and chambered a round. "Sometimes, I have _been_ the firing squad. My authority in this office is absolute, my decisions questioned by no one." He pressed the gun to Maxwell's forehead. "Who is this 'Director'?"

"Why should I tell you? I'm a dead man either way, right?"

"True. But would you rather go down in history as a traitor or simply as another unsolved homicide in this city? A 'John Doe', no less."

They stared each other down for a tense moment, then Maxwell finally gave up the name he'd been carefully purging from the records for the past twenty years. Angela hissed in fury when she heard the name, Kyro shifted back into his half-panther form and I narrowed my eyes and felt the animal raging inside me. A few seconds later, Bennington pulled the trigger and calmly replaced the gun inside his jacket.

"So what now?" I asked.

"Now, I believe the three of you have work to do. I'll leave him to you."

* * *

**AN: **Not nearly as helpful as they'd hoped, but at least they know who it is now, right? But you all will just have to wait four days to find out...:) Special thanks to Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, for everything they've done and continue to do...Extra Special thanks to DBK(tm) for being my number one most annoying fan (and i mean that in the best possible way!)...Super Special thanks to the readers, who are still reading so i guess that means you still like it...and Super Swanky Special thanks to my reviewers, who were taigh01, reeltreble1031, levanna, theNightEnchantress and sela103...taigh - This story is complete, i'm just evil and make you all wait for updates...:) And i can't kill a main character anyway, otherwise there wouldn't be a sequel...but the angst is there, you just have to be patient...:) reeltreble - glad you're having fun with NaNo! My story is...well, it's there...as for Hea and Jung, they're power freaked right now, but they will be mentioned from time to time in this story, but won't be major characters at this time...theNightEnchantress - aw stop, you're making me blush! (grin) And you can blame my muse for making me finish...she's pretty insistent when she thinks i'm talking to other muses (like my NaNoWriMo muse) and i'm pretty sure she kicked the other muse's ass and left her for dead somewhere...:) levanna - I'm glad you love Evie! In the spirit of "write what you know", she's actually loosely based on a combo of my own daughter at that age and my niece...as for wedding bells, you DO remember the part where they keep saying they have neither the need nor the desire to do that, right? sela - I thought i told you before that school is more important than my story anyway! (heh...yeah, i'm a mom, just listen to me!)...hope you did all right on the test! Glad to see you back...and it's not "bad guy" it's "bad men"...but if you read between the lines a bit, it's obvious who they are...:)

**Now, all you readers out there that haven't reviewed, why not try it now? I mean, i'm getting hits, so i know you're out there...so why not drop in and just say hello? I promise, i'll post a new chapter right away as a means of saying thank you:)**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

(Angela)

We made the trip home in silence, all of us with our own thoughts about what we'd learned. To say we were dumbstruck is an understatement. However, considering our past history with the guy, I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised. And by that, I mean mutants in general. I could still hear the words he spoke on the television, all those years ago…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_"My fellow Americans, it is with a heavy heart that I address you today. A tragedy has befallen us, without rhyme or reason, without warning. The loss of the President and Vice President has shaken all of us to the core, leaving us to wonder, why did this happen? Although the incidents are still under investigation, we have evidence that indicates this may have been a terrorist plot, masterminded by those within our own population who have the powers to sow the seeds of chaos without leaving any trace of their involvement. I speak to you of the mutants._

_"Only the mutants could have succeeded in undermining the security of both the President's entourage and the Vice Presidential motorcade. Only mutants could have caused the exact circumstances that led us to where we are today. So on this day, I make you a promise. I will deal with the mutant problem once and for all. I promise that I will do all that is within my power to ensure that the Unites States of America will be cleansed of this disease and we will once again know peace. Thank you."_

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I had always wondered how Project Wideawake had been greenlighted, then hidden so far away that even the best hackers in the world had not been able to find it until it was almost too late. I had wondered how Weapon X could still be active after all this time, feral mutants like the three of us being rare enough amongst our own kind. Charles had said it before when we first discussed hitting the BCI offices. Where do you hide something you don't want anyone to see? In plain sight. The Director had been right in front of us all along.

I was broken out of my reverie by the sound of the jet making its final approach to the mansion. Kyro set it down gently in the hangar and as soon as the ramp opened, I dashed out of the plane and down to the Danger Room. I accessed the file archives and instructed it to create a doppelganger of our ex-President, so I could look into its eyes and see how I could have missed something so obvious. It didn't help.

I wasn't aware that anyone had followed me until I heard the sound of a throat clearing behind me. I whipped around and there was Logan, leaning casually against the doorframe. "Hey darlin'. You comin' to bed?"

I shook my head. "Logan, how could we have been so blind? We should have known, when the Sentinels were out there, after Des Moines. We should have fucking known!"

"You said it yourself before, angel. You ain't psychic. Neither am I, neither is Kyro. That guy Maxwell's been doin' what he did for a long damn time to keep that guy's secret." He walked over and looked closely at the doppelganger. "But now we do know. An' we can take him out, once an' for all."

"I have the strangest feeling he'll find out anyway. You know that Maxwell had to be giving him regular reports, updates. When the next one doesn't come, he'll know and he'll rabbit faster than we can catch him."

"You forgot somethin'. I've been right next to the man, I got his scent. He can run, but he can't hide, not for long. We'll get him, you mark my words."

"I hope so." I looked back at the doppelganger and sighed. "I really hope you're right."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next day, we met with the Professor and gave him a run down of what we'd learned. He too was shocked to learn that the Director was the guy who almost succeeded in taking out mutantkind completely. We know that he'd stopped his persecution shortly after the DC Metro incident, we were pretty sure Bennington had something to do with that, but that was only his public face. In secret, he'd continued his work and the possible ramifications of that boggled my mind. We had reason to believe that Wideawake wasn't dead, simply slowed down. We knew Weapon X was still alive and well. How many other black projects did that man have going that we hadn't learned about? Maybe some of them weren't all bad, but those weren't the ones I cared about.

"…an' that's about it." Logan finished his report. "Now we know who he is, we just gotta find him."

"Logan, that won't be nearly as simple as you make it sound." Charles replied, taking a sip of his tea. "He'll have Secret Service protection, security systems. And we still don't know where his main base of operations is."

"I have Buzz running the data right now, Charles." I said. "The Director might have been hiding in plain sight, but I doubt he'd trust something like the bulk of Weapon X to something as simple as that. Not to mention Wideawake." I frowned in thought. "No, he'll want that as far off the grid as he can get it, somewhere that no one would ever even think to look."

"And yet he still does not try harder to get us back." Kyro pointed out and we all looked at him. "We may be listed as failures in his files because we are not under his control, but in truth we are the best he ever created."

"Hell, it ain't like we been hidin' or anythin'." Logan said. "I was right there in the train with him an'…holy shit!"

"What?"

He growled and ran his hands through his hair, making it stick up more than it already does. "I was in the goddamn train with him an' I shoulda realized it then, but everythin' was goin' so fast." He looked up at me. "Angela, he recognized me. He _knew_ me. I jus' thought it was shock that he was right there with a mutant, but I was wrong. Damn it!" He stalked over to the window and leaned against the frame. "I shoulda let Magneto have him."

"Calm down, Logan, please." Charles said mildly. "You can not blame yourself for this. You never met the man before that night, true?" Logan nodded. "You had no way of knowing who he was or how he was involved with your own past. This is _not_ your fault."

"Like hell it ain't. If I'd paid better attention…Chuck, he smelled like fear, but I thought it was cuz of the attack. But now, I'd bet it was cuz o' me."

"The Professor is right, Logan-san." Kyro added. "You can not hold yourself responsible for saving his life. What you did that day helped all mutants more than anything else you have done."

"Yeah, I s'pose you're right. But he ain't the President anymore an' I ain't lettin' him get away again."

"_We_ won't let him get away." I said. "We'll find him and we'll show him what he created when he made us what we are."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Now, promising to kill the Director was easy. Finding him proved to be a much trickier project. About a week after our excursion to the BCI offices, the former President announced that he was going on a "goodwill mission" to South Africa. On the way there, his plane crashed into the sea. I was not surprised when no bodies were found in the wreckage and it was assumed the ocean had taken them. I didn't believe a word of it.

The X-Men even went out to assist with the search just a few hours after the crash, but even we didn't find anything with all of our fancy equipment and various mutations. Storm stayed out there with a team for two days and came up with nothing, which was disappointing to the government, but good news for us. Our quarry had gone to ground. It was a shame we'd been unable to take away all the ground he could have gone to; it would make finding him that much harder.

So, life returned to what passed as normal around the mansion. Seth and Simon, the twins that had shown up years before, had progressed in their powers to the point of being almost scary. Seth could still only transform solid materials into metal, but the transformation lasted much longer than when he first showed up here. In fact, Sam had a chunk of wood that he'd transformed more than a month before and it was still in a metallic state with no signs of reverting back to wood. His brother had learned extremely fine control and could take a one foot cube of any metal and flatten it paper thin, spin it into miles of wire or compress it until it was so dense that Logan couldn't pick it up. Sam had no problems and we're pretty sure Piotr wouldn't either, but they were the only ones we could think of right offhand. However, unlike Magneto, Simon couldn't lift metal objects or in any way move them about. As he'd told us when he got here, he simply told the metal what to do.

We also received confirmation that Evie's mutation was definitely manifesting early. Rogue came to us one day after her morning kindergarten class to tell us about it. Logan and I were in the strategy classroom going over that day's assignments when she found us. "Hey you two. Gotta minute?"

"Sure darlin'." Logan replied, pulling up an extra chair for her. "Whatcha need?"

"I was wonderin' if either of you ever noticed that Evie knows things." She began.

"She knows all kinda things, Rogue. That ain't nothin' new."

"No, what I meant was, she knows things before they happen."

Now she had MY attention. "Well, nothing concrete, that's for sure. Why, what happened?"

"You know I took her class on a nature hike today, right?" We nodded. "Well, we were goin' down the path to the stream, since there's some plants just comin' into bloom over there that I wanted them to see. We were just passin' under that tree that Angela here likes to climb all the time and outta nowhere, she pushes Wendy Oliver off the path. Not two seconds later, a huge branch comes crashin' down right where Wendy was standin'."

"Holy shit! Are they all right?"

"Yeah, they're both fine. But I asked Evie why she did that and she looks me right in the eye and says 'I saw Wendy gettin' hit an' I didn't want that to happen'."

I covered my face with my hands and sighed. "Well, we didn't know what her mutations might turn out to be. We asked Hank before she was born about it, because Emma'd had precognition and I had that one dream about the Sentinels that came true while I was pregnant with Evie. The only other true dreams I ever had were when I was pregnant with Emma."

"Is there a history of it in your family or somethin'?"

I shrugged. "A little, I suppose. Remember, I was born way before the word 'mutant' was part of the vocabulary. But my mother always knew where to find things, no matter where they'd been lost and she said her grandmother always knew things before they happened. So I guess it skips a generation."

"What about anythin' else?" Logan asked. "She got anythin' like us?"

Rogue shook her head. "Not that I've noticed, but it might still be too soon to know for sure."

"Still, we'll have to get her into the Professor's gift classes now." I said. "She'll have to learn how to control this."

"That's my next stop. I just thought you guys should be the first to know."

We thanked her and she left on her errand. I glanced over at Logan and the look on his face was unreadable. "What's wrong lover?"

"Evie, she had that dream, the one you had too. You think she might have some telepathy too?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure Charles will find that out soon enough. Why?"

"I'm thinkin' that maybe she sent that dream to you without realizin' it." I gave him a confused look. "Think about it darlin'. You're her mom, she already sent you other stuff before she was born, so she already knows how to do that, even if she doesn't know she knows. She has the dream about the 'bad men' an' her instincts tell her to send it to someone else that she knows is strong enough to make it not happen."

I chewed on my thumb claw thoughtfully. It made perfect sense, really. No matter how much of a daddy's girl she was, I still had the advantage of having carried her within my body for nine months. Mutant or no, any mother will tell you that they have a kind of bond with their children, no matter how old they are. I nodded slowly. "You might be on to something there. We'll talk to Charles and Hank after dinner, see what they have to say."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Logan let me handle most of the conversation that evening, contenting himself to smoking a cigar and looking worried. I explained what we'd come up with after Rogue left our classroom to the two smartest men on the planet, then waited for their reaction.

"It is certainly possible, I'll admit." Charles said. "I know she won't be happy to add an afternoon class to her schedule, but I will see that she's included from now on."

"Also, don't forget that we talked about this possibility before she was born." Hank pointed out and I nodded. "I will admit that I wasn't prepared for any part of her mutation to manifest this early, but it is certainly not unheard of."

"Yeah, Logan and I talked about that earlier, too." I said, lighting a cigarette. "But I think it may have been at least slightly active much longer than this." I explained the dreams I'd had to them and how Evie had told us about the same dream after the North Korea mission. "But she's older in the dream than she is now, a lot older. Maybe nine or ten."

"Well, tomorrow is Saturday and I believe you had an outing planned with her if I'm not mistaken." Charles replied with a smile.

Logan grunted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, don't remind me. Why the hell she wants to go to that noise factory is beyond me."

"It's not a 'noise factory', Logan." I said. "It's Chuck E. Cheese's. And she wants to go because she likes the pizza and the ball pit."

"An' it's full o' screamin' kids who think a giant singin' mouse is entertainment." He stubbed out his cigar and tossed it into the sand bucket. "Don't know why she can't go to the park like normal kids."

"She's not three anymore, lover." He scowled at me and I giggled, then turned back to the Professor. "Yes, we have an outing planned. We'll ask her about it on the way home."

"If I survive that long." Logan grumbled and we all laughed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Later that night, before everyone went to sleep, Scott Summers sneaked past Logan and Angela's suite to the lower levels. Just as he expected, Buzz was still hard at work on some project or another, probably relating to the vengeance trail the two feral mutants were on. He tapped lightly on the door and the blue-haired hacker looked up. "Hey Summers. 'Sup?"_

_"Buzz, I have a mission, should you choose to accept it." Scott replied with a little-seen smirk on his face._

_"Oh really?" Buzz replied, clearly curious. "And what might that be?"_

_"You know that Logan and Angela are taking their daughter to Chuck E. Cheese's tomorrow, right?"_

_"Yeah, poor guy. Feel sorry for him. Saturday afternoon in that place, it'll be a madhouse."_

_"Exactly my point." Scott said and took the chair next to Buzz. "How funny would it be to see someone as supposedly as hardassed as Logan playing Whack-a-Mole? Skee Ball? Rolling around in the ball crawl with his daughter?"_

_"Hey man, I get what you're saying, but I have a serious need to be breathing tomorrow. I'm supposed to fly out for a visit with Jubilee!"_

_"Don't worry, I'll take full responsibility!" Scott promised, his smirk now a full grin. "Come on, Buzz. I know you have something down here that can record this!"_

_Buzz thought for a minute, then turned to a cabinet in the corner next to a long table covered with electronic equipment. "Well, I do, but…"_

_"What you got?"_

_Buzz sighed. "Angela asked me a couple months ago for a micro camera, something that could be easily hidden on anything. I've been having trouble with the resolution, it's pretty dirty. But I suppose I could clean it up on the computer…why do you want to do this?"_

_"Let's just say that I'm sick of Logan always saying I have a stick up my ass. I just want to show him what happens when I loosen up."_

_"You swear he won't kill me? Cuz I gotta say, that's the last guy I want to piss off ever."_

_"If he so much as waggles a claw in your general direction, he'll have to answer to me."_

_"Not much of a threat." Buzz mumbled under his breath._

_"What'd you say?"_

_"Oh…uh, I said I'll see what I can get." He went to the cabinet and took out a small box. Shaking his head, he turned to Scott and handed it to him. "This is a prototype, the only one I've got."_

_"Great! Um, we'll have to plant it somewhere, someplace he won't find it or even think to look."_

_Now it was Buzz's turn to grin. "I know just the place."_

* * *

**AN: **Before anyone asks, the answer is no, i don't give the Director a name...he was never (as far as i've been able to find) given one in the comics and i see no reason to change that here...now, if anyone out there DOES know if he was given a name, i will gladly edit further chapters to reflect that for the sake of accuracy...AND i will post the next chapter as a reward to the person who gives me the info...:) Special thanks to my beta readers, Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel for being so awesome...Extra Special thanks to DBK(tm) for his undying love and devotion...Super Special thanks to my readers for sticking with me and Super Swanky Special thanks to my reviewers, who were sela103, theNightEnchantress, reeltreble1031 and levanna...sela: what do you think i'm planning, hmmm?? theNightEnchantress: Good to see you, as always...:) reeltreble: Keep plugging away, it'll eventually come together...:) levanna: Sorry you had a crap week, but i'm glad i could help cheer you up...:) 

Now, for the record, the next chapter is nothing but fun and amusement, mostly because i was starting to feel like the story was too heavy for too long and needed a break...so if anyone or anything seems ooc, blame my beta reader Zac...the funniest part (to me, at least) was ALL his idea! I just ran with it!

**Now, all you readers who haven't reviewed, please do! I don't bite (much) and would love to hear from you, even if it's just to say hello! You can do that, can't you? Click the little button and just type "hello"? I know you can!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

(Logan)

I cracked my eyes open the next morning and groaned. Damn it, the world didn't end overnight and I was still gonna have to go to that noise factory. Angela stirred beside me before rolling over and curling up into me. I wrapped my arms around her and sighed. "Mornin' tiger."

"Morning." She replied sleepily. "What time is it?"

"Almost nine." I pulled her a little closer and she purred then kissed my neck. I growled playfully and pulled her on top of me. "Feelin' frisky this mornin'?"

"Mm, always when it comes to you." She replied and kissed me soundly. I buried my hand in her hair and slid my other one under her tank top to stroke her back. I was just about to slip it over her head when I heard the click of Evie's door across the room. Angela rolled off of me in a flash and I groaned again. I looked over and there was my daughter, her hair still messy from sleeping and rubbing her eyes. "Hey sweetheart, come on in." Angela said.

"Mommy, why does Daddy look so grumpy?" She asked as she padded across the room.

"Oh, he doesn't like mornings too much." Angela scooted aside and Evie crawled in between us. "You wanna get up now or go back to sleep for a little?"

"We can't go back to sleep! We have Chuck E. Cheese's today!" She giggled and I bit back yet another groan.

"Yeah we do, princess, but that ain't til six." I said as I rolled over and slung my arm over my two angels. "We can have a little more sleep, no problem."

"But Daddy, I have to have a bath an' get dressed an' Aunt Marie said she had a present for me an' there's breakfast that's gonna be pancakes cuz it's Saturday."

"She's right, lover." Angela added. "You know if we don't get down there before ten, between Sam and Hank there won't be anything left for us."

Now I did groan again. "Women. Since when are the women the ones with all the sense?"

"Since you fell in love with me. Now get up!"

Forty minutes later, we made our way down to the dining room. The students were all in high spirits, pancake day being their favorite day of the week. I scowled at the noise and went to my seat at the staff table next to Kurt and Buzz, who already had huge stacks in front of them. I looked out at the kids at the their tables, their chattering overwhelming my hearing and scowled again.

"Vhat is the matter, mein herr?" Kurt asked with a smirk.

"Nothin'." I said and dug into my breakfast. Angela joined me a few minutes later after she dropped Evie off at the younger kids' table so she could sit with her friend Wendy. "Darlin', are you _sure_ I hafta go with you today? Can't it be a girl's day or somethin'?"

"Logan, we've been through this." Angela replied, piling her own plate full of pancakes. "It'll break Evie's heart if you don't go."

"Go vhere?"

Angela grinned. "Logan and I are taking Evie to Chuck E. Cheese's today." At his look of confusion, she explained. "It's a pizza place with an arcade, a play area and animatronic characters that sing. She went there last spring for Wendy's birthday and she's been begging to go back, so we said we'd take her today."

"So vhat is the problem?"

"I'll tell ya what the problem is." I growled and gestured with my fork. "You think that's bad out there? You ain't heard nothin' til you've been stuck in a room with 'bout a thousand screamin' kids under the age of ten with all them games makin' all their noise on top of it." I shook my head and attacked my breakfast. "It's enough to drive ya crazy."

"Vell then it is a good thing you are already there, ja?" Kurt joked and I glared at him and my woman as they broke into laughter. I just couldn't win today, I could feel it in my metal-covered bones.

After breakfast, I had back-to-back Danger Room sessions with Beta, Delta and Gamma teams. It only happened like that on rare occasions, due to the way the schedule fell, but it did manage to fill up most of the time before I would have to accept my fate. It also meant there was plenty of time for something to happen out in the world that would need the intervention of the X-Men, but everything remained stubbornly peaceful out there. For the first time in a very long time, I cursed my adamantium bones - a nice broken leg would have been plenty of reason to stay home and I'm sure I could have arranged one, failsafes or no failsafes. About four-thirty, I dismissed Gamma team and hit the showers, still coming up with jack shit for a reason to stay home.

A couple hours later, it was almost time to go and I was now desperate for an out or at least someone to suffer with me, but everyone and I do mean _everyone_ in the mansion seemed to have other things to do. My first thought had been Storm, since she was really good with kids and had come back from the birthday party last year going on and on about how much fun she had. So I figured I'd hunt her down and ask her to go.

"Oh Logan, I'd love to," she said, "but Sam said he planned a surprise outing for us today. I'm so sorry." So much for that. Next stop, Rogue. I couldn't see how "Aunt Marie" could possible turn down her adopted niece.

"I'm sorry, sugah, but Remy and I already have plans for today."

"You can bring him with us." I said, hoping to convince her. "I'm sure Angela won't mind." Too much, I added to myself.

Marie just gave me a sympathetic look. "I know Logan and if we hadn't planned this weeks ago, you know I'd be there in a heartbeat." She patted my hand and walked away.

The story was the same everywhere I went. Iceman had plans with Warren and Sage, Kyro had a picnic with Chasca, even Peter was busy. With half an hour to go, I had a thought that maybe Chuck could be talked into it. I got within three steps of his door when I heard his voice in my head. 'Sorry, Logan, but I have paperwork I have to catch up on. Why don't you ask Scott?'

Scott fucking Summers, the bottom of the barrel. I gritted my teeth and went in search of him. Big surprise, he was in the garage tinkering with a new motorcycle, having long ago given up on getting the other one back from me. He looked up as I entered, wiping his hands on a cloth. "Hey Logan."

"Hey." I said, shoving my hands in my pockets. "What's up?"

"Just putting the finishing touches on my new bike, which you had better not try and steal."

"Nah, I finally got the other one just the way I like it." I looked around and sighed. "So, got anythin' else planned today?"

"Why do you ask?" He asked with a smirk.

"Well, you know I've got that thing with Angela an' Evie today…" I trailed off, not happy at all with this conversation.

"Oh yeah, Chuck E. Cheese's." He grinned. "The kids had a blast there last year."

"Yeah well, I was just wonderin', you know, if you didn't have any other plans…"

"Yes?"

I gave him a scowl. "FortheloveofGodwillyougowithme?" I said in a rush, still not quite believing I'd been reduced to _this._

Scott gave a short laugh, then walked over and slung an arm over my shoulders. "You remember that middle claw at Liberty Island?" I nodded and he patted me on the chest. "Have fun, _bub_." He started laughing again and walked away, leaving me standing there too shocked to even respond. I was doomed.

Angela and Evie came into the garage just then, my woman looking very confused. "Logan, why is Scott laughing so hard?"

"Nothin'. C'mon, let's get this over with." We piled into her car and I settled into the passenger seat, still scowling. Well, at least they had beer there.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Two large, one with extra cheese an' pepperoni, the other with extra cheese an' all the meat you've got 'cept anchovies." I sighed and looked around me, my ears already feeling like they were ready to bleed from the noise level in the place, not to mention the mixed smells of pizza, spilled drinks, frustrated people and dirty diapers. I was in hell.

"Anything else, sir?" The over-peppy girl behind the counter chirped. Yes, chirped.

"Uh, a pitcher of Coke an' a pitcher of beer."

"I'm sorry sir, but we don't serve beer anymore."

I went very still and just stared at her. "What?"

"We don't serve beer anymore. We stopped last summer, change in corporate policy."

Someone up there was having _way _too much fun at my expense. I turned to my woman. "Oh hell _no_, darlin'. I can't do this without beer."

Angela opened her mouth to speak, but Evie beat her to the punch. She looked up at me, tears standing in her big green eyes, her lip quivering. "B-but Daddy, you p-promised!" She wailed.

Oh shit. Now I felt like an asshole. "Evie, princess, I'm sorry. Don't cry honey, I take it back. I'll be fine." Yeah, right.

She sniffled hard and Angela bent down to comfort her. I turned back to the peppy chirper. "Fine, just the pop then."

She gave me the total and I paid her, then took back the change and the cupful of game tokens that came with the meal. Evie had recovered from my near-bad-father experience and took my hand, skipping along next to me. God, the things I do for my daughter. Evie dragged me over to her favorite game, which happened to be Whack-a-Mole, with Angela close behind. I couldn't help but smirk a little, thinking back to the untimely demise of one Mr. Maxwell of the BCI. Of course, Evie had no knowledge of the things we did, as far as we knew. However, with her newly awakened gift, it was likely she'd see things at least occasionally, though we would do our best to protect her. She shoved two tokens into the slot and handed me one of the mallets. "Here Daddy! See if you can beat me!"

I looked at the mallet with a raised eyebrow. Jesus, if Magneto could see me now. The big bad Wolverine playing _Whack-a-Mole_ of all things. Suddenly, I was glad no one had been able to come with me. I'd never live it down. "Ok princess, you're on!" I said with forced cheer. About a minute later, the game was over and I had the higher score. The machine whirred and spit out about twenty tickets, which Evie immediately took custody of. I shook my head and Evie showed her tickets off, making sure to say that I won them for her, while Angela just smiled at me with a twinkle in her eye. We went in search of a table and found one not too close to the stage where the animatronics would perform at regular intervals. I sat down with a sigh. "Darlin', I will get you back for this." I said.

"Oh, I'm sure you will lover," she replied with a wink, "but not today."

Evie grabbed Angela by the hand and dragged her off for another game, leaving me to wait for the food. They announced our number about twenty minutes later, so I went and retrieved the pizzas. Angela was waiting when I returned, then she went to get the pitcher and some cups while I served out pizza for all of us. The pepperoni pizza was for the two of them to share, the other one was all mine. It was one advantage to having an extra hundred pounds of metal running through my body. It was like having a constant workout, so I never had to worry about gaining weight. Even though she had the same, Angela still ate like a woman and complained about watching her figure. I have never understood that, since she'd be perfect to me no matter what. Just try convincing _her_ of that.

Forty-five minutes later, the pizza was demolished, the pitcher was empty and I was ready to go. Evie, however, had other plans. "Daddy, come play another game with me!"

"Daddy needs to digest for a bit, princess."

"Pleeeease?" She begged. "Me an' Mommy found a great game an' I wanna play it with you!"

I looked over at Angela who was stifling a giggle. "Oh, go on Logan. It'll be fun." She said. "I was pretty good at it, I'm sure you'll do just fine."

I rolled my eyes. "All right, you win. Can't see why you women always gotta gang up on me."

"Cuz I love you, Daddy!" Evie said and my heart melted a little bit more. "Come on before someone else gets there!"

She pulled me up out of my seat and dragged me clear to the other side of the room, Angela following close behind. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw what she wanted me to play. "Uh, princess? I don't think I can play this one." I said.

"Why not?" She asked, her bottom lip starting to poke out.

"Um, because I don't think I can." Of all the things she could have dragged me to, from driving games to shooters to classics like Centipede and Pac-Man, my darling daughter picked "Dance Dance Revolution". "Daddy doesn't know how to dance."

She giggled. "Silly! You just follow the screen. It's super easy an' Mommy was good at it an' I'm only little an' I can play it."

Angela's face was bright red and I could tell she was holding back outright laughter. "What?" I snapped.

"Oh, nothing Logan. Nothing at all." She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a quick kiss, then pulled my ear down to her mouth. "But you are going to owe me big time if you don't want anyone at home to hear about this." She whispered.

I snapped upright and I felt something much like terror. "You wouldn't."

"Try me." She said with a huge grin on her face.

"I am _really _gonna get you for this." I growled. Evie was still tugging on my hand and with a sigh, I took my place on the machine. She jumped up and down, clapping her hands, then fed the last of our tokens into the machine. For those who may not be familiar with it, the premise is simple. On the platform is a series of arrows. As the song plays, arrows appear on the screen and you have to put your feet in the correct spot to make the dance moves. As the game progresses, the dances get more difficult. If you make too many mistakes, the game is over. I didn't realize how much time had passed until I finally made a serious error and the game ended. When I turned around, I saw that quite a crowd had gathered and they all applauded me as I stepped off the platform. I was profoundly embarrassed and just gave them a half-hearted wave as I started to walk away.

Evie threw herself into my arms. "Daddy, you got the high score!" She squealed.

I raised my eyebrow at her. "I did?"

"Yeah, you hafta go back an' put your name in so's everyone knows!"

No fucking way I was putting in my name, either of them. I turned back to the machine and once I figured out how to do it, I put my name down as "James". Not like anyone here knew my real name anyway and if anyone from the mansion came back here, well…there are plenty of people named "James" in the world.

Angela was still smiling as we made our way out to the car. "Well lover, looks like those enhanced reflexes of yours came in handy today."

I growled. "I swear, if you tell _anyone_, 'specially Cyke, I will get you."

"Oh, I'm sure I can be persuaded to silence, with the right enticement." She purred and I softened a bit.

"Mm, I think I can come up with _somethin' _that'll convince you." I bent down to kiss her and Evie made a gagging noise. We broke apart laughing and got into the car. As I settled myself in, I decided that this outing hadn't been so bad after all.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Back at the mansion, Buzz was watching as everything unfolded. He'd called Angela down to the security office just before they were ready to leave on the pretense of explaining the new upgrades to the computer. She'd suffered through it graciously for as long as she could before finally pointing out to him that she knew how to use a computer and could figure this out on her next shift in the office. Buzz had poked her playfully in the chest, saying that she could at least humor him. This was his job, after all. In reality, he'd used that seemingly innocent little poke to plant the camera on the button of her blouse._

_He had to admit that watching the big, bad Wolverine play Whack-a-Mole had been pretty amusing, but nothing could have prepared him for what happened at the end of the evening. As soon as he saw it, he got on the internal phone to Scott. "Summers, meet me in the Danger Room right now!" He shouted and transferred the feed._

_Less than a minute later, Scott showed up looking worried. "What's wrong?" He asked._

_"My friend, feast your eyes on _this_." Buzz replied and hit a button. A life-sized replica of Logan and his daughter playing "Dance Dance Revolution" appeared in front of him._

_Scott stood there dumbfounded for a moment before breaking into gales of hysterical laughter. After about a minute, he calmed down and rushed to the general com. "Alpha team, meeting in the Danger Room stat." He announced. He was about to put the com down when something else occurred to him. "Bring popcorn."_

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Evie had fallen asleep by the time we got home. Angela parked the car and I gathered my princess up, listening to her grumble sleepily that she wasn't tired. I chuckled softly then kissed her forehead and she snuggled into my chest. Clutched in her hands was the stuffed monkey she'd gotten with the tickets we'd won over the course of the evening, which she had promptly named "Bosko". I shook my head in wonder, once again finding it hard to believe that I was this lucky.

As we entered the mansion, Angela and I stopped dead in our tracks. Usually bustling with activity that we can hear, the place was dead silent and that was always a source of worry. I sniffed the air, but I couldn't smell anything out of place. The only scents I detected were those of the people who live here, cigar and cigarette smoke and popcorn. Angela motioned to me to take Evie up to our room, then twirled her finger to indicate that she would take a look around. I nodded and took the stairs two at a time to get up there as quickly as I could.

I tucked Evie into her bed before leaving the suite and locking the doors behind me. I took a few steps down the hall before Angela came rushing up the stairs, her blouse clutched in her hands. "Logan, look at this." She whispered, pointing to one of the buttons. "I think it's a camera."

"What?" I asked, scowling. "How the hell did you get a camera on your blouse?"

"I don't know. Could have happened at the restaurant. It was pretty crowded, I did get jostled a couple times. Could have been planted then."

"Darlin', this is not good."

"Is Evie secure?" I nodded. "Ok, good. I haven't checked the lower levels yet."

I grabbed the blouse from her and crushed the tiny camera between my fingers. No sense in letting anyone know we were home now. "C'mon, let's go."

We made our way back down the stairs, bypassing the elevator to help keep the element of surprise on our side. As we passed the kitchen, I heard the sound of someone humming and motioned to Angela to stay put. I crept around the doorframe and stopped dead when I saw it was Rogue. "Marie?"

She turned with a yelp, then put her hand over her heart and glared at me. "Logan, you scared the livin' shit outta me!" She yelled.

"Sorry kid, didn't mean to." I replied. "Where the hell is everyone?"

"Oh! Um, well when we got back from our date, the younger kids were bored so me an' Remy took them down for some Club Danger Room time and you know how everyone likes that." She replied. Angela came into the kitchen, a look of relief on her face. "Oh! Gosh you guys, I'm sorry. I guess we should've left y'all a note or somethin'."

"Yeah, probably." I said and sighed. "You scared the hell outta us. We thought somethin' happened."

"And I found a microcamera on my shirt." Angela added. "I thought someone may have waited for us to leave to hit the mansion."

"A camera? Really?" Rogue asked. "That's really weird." She sidled up to me and started shimmying a little as she hummed to herself. "Well, I better get back down there. Y'all wanna join us?"

I looked at Angela and she shrugged. "Sure. I mean, Buzz modeled Club Danger Room after my old place. I wouldn't mind a trip down memory lane."

I took her hand and we followed Marie downstairs. She kept up the humming with the occasional shimmy the whole way down and I shook my head. What had gotten into that girl? We finally got to the Danger Room, but when the doors opened we didn't see the replica of RnR that we were expecting. Instead, it looked just like the Danger Room, with one exception. Smack in the middle was a replica of that damn dancing game, complete with me on one side dancing like a fool. On the other side was Hank, pulling some crazy ass moves that I could not believe, surrounded by every single person who lived at the mansion, including Chuck. I glared at Marie and a low growl erupted from my chest.

"Sugah, I swear it wasn't me!" Was all she said before she dashed across the room and out of my reach.

Suddenly, the image froze and Hank let out a snarl of protest. "Hey now! I was finally about to beat him!" Someone cleared their throat and he looked over at the door, then broke into a wide grin. "Logan my friend! This is great!" He cried.

I stalked to the middle of the room and glared at everyone. "All right, who did it? Who put the camera on her? Who recorded all this?"

No one said anything, but there was suddenly a bit of a gap between Buzz and everyone else around him. I took a step towards him, but Scott was suddenly in front of me. "Logan, don't. It's not his fault. He was only following orders."

"Whose orders?" I snarled.

"Mine." I went to grab his shirt, but he ducked under my arm and put his hand up to his glasses. "Now Logan, just wait. You're the one who always says I don't know how to have a good time, that I have, and I quote, 'a stick up my ass'. Well, now you know what happens when I get a mind to prank someone."

"So you decide to unwind by prankin' me? You got a death wish?"

Unexpectedly, he smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Remember when you called me a dick at Liberty Island?" I nodded. "Just thought I'd give you a real reason for it."

I dropped my hands to my sides and shook my head, then looked back over at the frozen image of me on that fucking machine. Even I had to admit that this was a hell of a practical joke, even if I _was_ the butt of it. I looked back at Scott and sighed. "Cyke, you _are_ a dick. But ya got me good, I gotta admit." I held out my hand and he took it, fool that he is. I pulled him forward and grabbed the front of his shirt. "But don't think for one minute you'll get away with it. I'll get ya back." I let him go and turned to the room. "As for the rest of ya, just remember. You have to put up with me in here as your instructor. Keep that in mind before you even think 'bout messin' with me."

"Logan, it's all in good fun." Chuck said, his eyes twinkling. "And the children really seem to enjoy it."

"Yeah whatever." I turned back to Buzz. "And as for _you_, I want this deleted by noon tomorrow, you got it?"

"Sure, whatever you say." He replied, looking pale.

I snorted and turned to leave. "What about now?" I heard someone ask.

"Damage is already done. Might as well enjoy it while ya can." A cheer erupted and I stalked out of there. Damn, with friends like these, who needs enemies?

* * *

**AN: **This entire chapter was inspired by an offhanded remark that my beta reader and fiance Zac said to me one night while i was writing...i had originally thought to do this as a one-shot, but as the story went on and started to feel really heavy, i thought a little levity was just what it needed...:) For the record, it took me almost half an hour to recover from the mental picture of Wolverine (_any_ version) getting his groove on...:) I hope you all had as much fun here as i did...:)

Special thanks to Zac (love you honey!) and Turiel Tincdaniel, my most excellent beta readers...Extra Special thanks to DBK(tm) for assuring me that i have a sick but very fun sense of humor...:) Super special thanks to my readers, for sticking with this saga for this long...and Super Swanky Special thanks to my lone reviewer of ch. 7, who was levanna...i know ffn was having some issues, so i don't know if anyone else reviewed and it got eaten or what...and levanna, let's just say that Scott isn't in the clear yet...now that it works properly, Logan has a very _long_ memory...:) I won't say when, but i assure you that Logan will get back at him when he least expects it...:)

**Now, for all of you who have read and not reviewed, give it a shot! All you have to do is click the little button down there where it says "submit review" and say hello and i will post a new chapter right away as a thank you!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

(Angela)

It took a few weeks for the mansion to settle down over the "DDR Incident", as I'd taken to calling it. None of the kids were dumb enough to ever say anything to his face, although it wasn't uncommon to see a bunch of them suddenly stop what they were doing when he entered a room. Scott, of course, never let him live it down, which I think was good for Logan. He was still plotting revenge for the whole thing, but deep down I think he was impressed that someone had gotten one over on him.

As predicted, Evie was completely unthrilled at having a class in the afternoons with the Professor. We'd never had a chance to ask her about her dreams on the way home from Chuck E. Cheese's, since she'd fallen asleep as soon as we got her in the car, but I'd managed to bring it up to her the next afternoon, but she said she didn't remember if she'd had the dream about the "bad men" before the camping trip. That didn't surprise me too much; she'd barely been four when it happened the first time. Still, it worried me and Logan to no end because Charles confirmed that she did indeed have precognition, manifesting early.

"So what do we do now?" I asked, running my fingers through my hair.

"The first thing we have to do is try and get it under some kind of control." Charles said. "I admit that I do not have much experience with this particular gift, but in time we should be able to teach her to use her gift at will. However, I can't guarantee she won't still have flashes from time to time that are beyond her control."

"I'm just worried that she'll see things she's not ready for. She's only six, Charles. I don't want her to see some of the things we have to do."

He leaned forward in his chair. "There is something I could do, but I'm not sure either of you will like it."

"What?"

"I can put in a telepathic barrier that will block her power temporarily until she's old enough to understand how to use it."

"Hell no, Chuck." Logan finally spoke up from the other side of the room. "No way. I ain't havin' no one fuck with her head the way those Weapon X bastards did to us."

"Logan, this will not be the same thing." Charles said mildly. "For one, it won't be permanent. I can set it up to erode over time, giving her the opportunity to become accustomed to the way her power works."

"Look, I know you got the best of intentions in mind here an' I trust you like family, but you know how I feel about telepaths gettin' into people's heads an' fuckin' around."

"I am well aware of that, Logan. But this isn't going to be the same as what happened to you and Angela. I won't be altering her memory or blocking anything except the area where her gift is centered. I assure you, I won't do more than what's necessary here."

I shifted my gaze between the two men and sighed. "Charles, can we talk about it for a day or so?"

"Of course, my dear. Take as much time as you need. But I shouldn't need to tell you that if she's starting to have precognitive flashes in her waking hours, the longer we wait the less likely it will be that any barriers I put in will hold for long."

"We understand. We'll let you know soon." He nodded, then Logan and I left the office. We had a strategy class to teach, but instead of heading to the classroom, Logan clamped a cigar between his teeth and headed to the patio doors. Sighing, I followed him, digging a pack of Camels out of my pocket. He stalked to the very back of the garden, where the markers were for Jean and Alex. I knew they were there and had visited a few times since we lost Havok on that ill-fated mission in the Outback, but Logan had never brought me with him. Granted, I was actually following him, but he had to know that I would. He paused to light his cigar, then turned with the match to light mine. We stood there in silence for a moment before he dropped to a bench that was off to one side. I remained standing, my eyes fixed on the ground beneath me.

"For a while, I didn't think I could live without her." He said without preamble. "Couldn't imagine bein' here in this house without her around."

I bit back the irrational surge of jealousy I felt every time Jean's ghost came up. I mean, the woman was dead for the love of the gods, so I had no reason for it. But she'd been in my man's heart and it was only sheer chance that brought him to back to me after so many years. I swallowed hard before speaking. "I know, Logan. You've told me."

He leaned back and closed his eyes. "But now, for the first time in what? Seven years? Eight? I wish she was here."

My inner beast clawed in my mind and I took a deep breath to calm it down. "Why?"

He looked at me, his brow furrowed. "Don't get me wrong, I got a lot o' respect for Chuck. But sometimes he just don't get it, ya know?"

"Logan, he only has what's best for Evie in mind here." I said, settling next to him. "Maybe it's not such a bad idea."

He snorted and took another pull on his cigar. "I know that, darlin'. But that ain't what I'm talkin' about."

"So what are you talking about?" I asked, the beast prowling around in my head.

"It's kinda hard to explain." He said as he chewed on his cigar thoughtfully. After about half a minute, he turned to face me. "Chuck pushes. I know he's probably the smartest person I know, but that don't mean he knows what's best for everyone. But it don't matter to him. He gets an idea, then pushes til everyone agrees with him." He took another long drag and sighed, looking over at Jean's marker. "When Jean was here, she had this way o' gettin' him to back off, 'specially when it came to me. An' she was so good with the kids, they just loved her so much. If I had a choice, I'd rather Jean was the one teachin' Evie 'bout her powers, not Chuck."

My heart tightened in my chest as another surge of jealousy ran through me and I took another deep breath. "Logan, do you…do you still love her?"

His head snapped around and he looked at me with wide eyes. "What? No!" He took my hand in his, stroking it with his thumb. "Darlin', after everythin' 'bout you came back to me, I understood what had been goin' on with her. You have no idea how much like you she was. She was strong, beautiful an' she never was afraid o' me. I was half an inch from killin' her when I first woke up here, but she never held it against me. Did I want her? Yes, very much. But if there was a miracle an' she came back to life right this second, I still wouldn't trade what I have with you for anythin' in the world." He pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arm around me. "I loved the _idea_ of Jean, that someone would make me want to be a better man. But you darlin'…you love me even with all the flaws an' in the end, you make me a better man because of it. Jean may have had my heart for a little while, but you have my soul. Rip out my heart an' hell, I'll probably just grow another one. Don't think I'll get over losin' my soul any time soon."

"Who knew that you were such a poet?" I asked, sniffling.

"I ain't no poet, just like I still ain't no kinda hero. Shit, there still days I don't know what the hell I'm doin' here, teachin' kids to be soldiers. Then I look at you an' Evie readin' 'Cinderella' an' it reminds me."

"Well, you're wrong on both counts. You're all the poet and hero a girl could ever want." I managed to fight back the tears that stung my eyes and looked up at him with a smile. "But I never said you were a very good poet."

He laughed and kissed me. "Now that I can accept!" He kissed me again, then wrapped both of his arms around me. "But now this thing with Evie, seein' the future. What's that gotta be like?"

"Well, having been the recipient of prenatal visions, I can tell you that it's not very good." I sat up and looked around. "I mean, when you dream about running naked through the halls looking for a birthday cake, that's just a bad dream. But when you see yourself dying in a fiery ball in a car crash, that's enough to make you sell the car and walk everywhere." I shivered at the memory and rubbed my arms. "I'm more concerned that she'll see things she's not ready for, see people she loves getting hurt or killed. She's already had that dream with the new invasion of the mansion at least twice, but I don't think she realizes that it could be true."

"But we can change it, right? I mean, she changed the flash she had with Wendy, so why not that?"

"I don't know, lover, I really don't. I suppose we could wait a couple years then take her away somewhere, but that doesn't mean they won't come looking for her anyway."

"No, what I mean is, if it's a true dream an' those _are_ Weapon X soldiers that come here, then we just have to take 'em all out before that happens."

"Logan, we've been working on that for five years and barely made a dent in the active facilities. If we hit one base a week for the next year, we'd only get about a quarter of the ones in that file. And what's to say that they're all in that file? How do we know that they aren't just moving to new facilities after we hit one?"

He sighed heavily. "You're right, we don't know. An' knowin' them, that's just what they're doin'." He took a final drag on his cigar and stubbed it out. "I wish like hell we could find that Director an' take him out."

"Me too, lover. Me too." We sat there a little longer, thinking about the mission we'd undertaken. Weapon X needed to die and soon. If Evie's dream was going to be averted, we needed to finish them all off once and for all. By my reckoning, we only had about four more years to do that and for the first time in my long life, I felt like I didn't have enough time to do everything I needed to do.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We made it to our strategy class about fifteen minutes late. However, since it was Beta team that day, Sarah and Peter had taken over and given them a scenario of their own design, which was actually pretty good. Logan and I looked it over and decided to go with it, both of us coming up with at least half a dozen ways to get through it at a glance. But we were trained to plan on the fly like that, which was the whole point of this class in the first place. Seeing how quickly they'd come up with the scenario in the first place, I made a mental note to ask the rest of Alpha if they'd mind advancing the two of them by the end of the semester. They'd been wonderfully patient, waiting all this time to make it to the top of the heap, especially considering they were adults and had to take this class with a bunch of kids. I knew it was because of their military background that they didn't complain; they knew you had to jump through all kinds of hoops before you get promoted and we were no different. At least Peter had finally stopped calling Logan "sir".

I decided to use the unexpected down time to program Evie's dream into the computer. It wouldn't hurt to run the scenario, after all, even though I wasn't a hundred percent certain of everything in the dream. Were the active operatives there? If so, was it all four of them or just one or two? How many troops were outside and how had they bypassed our security? So many variables, but I still felt I could come up with something that would be similar enough to get by. And it wouldn't hurt to program several variations of it. Hell, I could even throw in a couple Sentinels just for fun, not that the class would see it that way. When the end of class rolled around, I was about halfway through the program. Another couple of days to finish it up and work out the bugs and it would make a fine lesson for the next week.

Logan leaned over to see what I was doing and gave a little snort. I looked over to him and he had his patented "what the hell is this" look on his face, complete with the sexy eyebrow trick. Right on cue, he asked, "What the hell is this?"

"Next week's lesson." I replied as I finished a line of code.

"Are you tryin' to give them an impossible lesson or just hopin' to take Cyke's title of 'least favorite teacher' away from him?"

I giggle. "Neither. This is that dream of Evie's, with a few other things thrown in for spice."

"Spice? Darlin', that's a triple shot o' 'Widowmaker' hot sauce!"

"Well, I didn't exactly see everything that was going on and it's not like one of those dreams where you just know everything that's in it."

"Still, you got all them soldiers with all that artillery, a giant Sentinel, four small Sentinels AND Asp, Tigress, Demon an' Vulture! This makes our old worst case scenario look like a day at the park!"

"That's the point, lover." I said as I saved the program. "I only saw a tiny portion of what was going on in that dream. Something tells me Evie saw a lot more, but she's so young she doesn't know how to explain it. But you and I were hiding behind a wall that had been knocked down by a freaking rocket for fuck's sake! So, I decided to pull out all of the stops on this one, see if they're up to the challenge." I turned to him, my mouth set in a grim line. "Because if we can't stop it before it happens, we might as well clear the school out now and scatter to the four corners of the earth."

"Angela, don't you think you're jumpin' the gun a bit here?"

"No, I don't. In fact, if we haven't killed that Director before Evie turns ten, I'm giving serious thought about sending her away before they can get here."

He scowled at me and a low growl issued from his chest. "You ain't sendin' her anywhere that we don't go!"

"Logan, think about it. If this thing can't be stopped, there is no way we can't be here to defend the mansion. But I'm also pretty sure that the attack is as much about getting Evie as it is destroying the X-Men. We might not stop them coming here, but we _can_ stop them from getting her by taking her out of the equation. Marie and Sam are her gods-parents and you know that means Remy and Storm will go with them. I can set them up with Ricky, get them the money they need to disappear for a very long time if necessary." I gripped his hand in mine. "I don't want to be apart from her either. But I'll be damned if Weapon X ever gets a hold of her! So if that's my choice, then I'll send her away."

Logan's scowl softened and he grabbed me a rough embrace. "So let's get back to work then, double our efforts." He held me for a long moment before pulling away to look me right in the eyes, his own expression hard. "Let's kill 'em all."

* * *

**AN:** I would like to thank Dee (MidLifeCrisis) for letting me know that the Director does have a real name after all, which is Malcolm...however, since i don't know if it's his first or last name, i'll have to squeeze it in somewhere else later...possibly even go back and edit a couple earlier chapters to get it in there where it'll make more sense...but that's for later...:) Special thanks to my beta readers Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, the bestest beta readers ever...Extra Special thanks to DBK(tm) for being my biggest fan and keeping me writing even when i get stuck...Super Special thanks to all my (silent) readers for sticking with me...and Super Swanky Special thanks to those who reviewed, who were MidLifeCrisis (ok, on ch. 7, but hey...better late than never, right?), levanna, theNightEnchantress, Ineluctability and sela103...Dee: Hope it was funny enough for ya...:) levanna: Don't worry, Scott WILL get his eventually...:) tNE: thanks for the review! Ineluctability: You know i'm gonna ask anyway, right? Where the heck were ya girlie?? Sela: Unfortunately, i am a visual thinker and when Zac mentioned how funny that would be, i got this vision of Wolvie in full X-Men gear bustin' a move on DDR in front of a whole crowd of people...and i couldn't stop laughing for ten minutes!! So, since i love to share the funny things i see with people i like, you all got to "see" it too...:)

**Now this is for all of you non-reviewing readers...i'm always going to be eternally grateful that you're still around no matter what...but i'd still love to know who you are! So go ahead and click the "go" button next to where it says "submit review"...don't worry about where it says to leave something constructive, just click the button, type the word "hello" and submit that...i promise, you don't have say anything more than that and i'll post a brand new chapter right away!**


	10. Interlude and Chapter 10

Interlude

_Deep beneath a restricted area of a regular military base, the Director looked over the last report he'd received from his operative inside the not-so-secret Bureau for Constitutional Integrity. There was nothing in the report to indicate that anyone was on to him, including that bastard Bennington. Had it not been for that meddling mutant's threat, he could have taken care of the mutant problem once and for all while he was in office. But the attack by Magneto and the fact that these "X-Men" had risked their own worthless mutant lives to protect him, public opinion on mutants had begun to slowly but steadily change to the positive. What had shocked him to the core was the appearance of Wolverine during the DC Metro incident. The man he knew as "James Logan" had shown the most promise in the Weapon X program until the day they actually put him through the bonding process. Underestimating the effectiveness of his healing factor, the anesthesiologist had given him too little anesthetic and Wolverine had awakened during the end phase of the procedure. Driven berserk by the pain, he'd broken out of the augmentation tank and started slicing his way through doctors, technicians, anyone in the room that he could reach. They may have been able to regain control of the subject, except that Hellcat had leapt into the fray and the two of them vanished into the teeth of the worst blizzard seen in the Alkali Lake region for twenty years, never to return._

_So to see his finest creation return in the guise of a so-called "superhero" had surprised the Director into speechlessness until the creature had spoken to him. He felt that he'd recovered nicely, masking any possible recognition that had crossed his face with the obvious statement of "You're a mutant!" In the end, he was confident that Wolverine had never realized that the Director knew who and what he was. In fact, he was pretty sure that Wolverine still didn't know everything there was to know about the truth behind his "recruitment" into Weapon X. That was a secret known only by the Director and William Stryker. With the latter gone, well…better to keep it to himself._

_Once the cleanup following the attack was finished, the President had returned to the Oval Office to begin work on his official statement regarding the incident. However, that was not to happen, due to the presence of a previously unknown man who had obviously been waiting for him. After a rather heated discussion, which ended with that bastard Bennington threatening him, the Director had no choice but to obey what the man had told him to do. Reluctantly, he had made the changes that Bennington had asked for, while secretly using his position as the Director for Weapon X to continue his work to eliminate mutants._

_After that meeting, it had not been easy to find out who this man was. In the end, help had come from the most unlikely of places. He'd come into the Oval Office early one morning only to find a man sitting there calmly, much the same as Bennington had weeks before. The man introduced himself as Timothy Maxwell of the BCI, which immediately put the Director on guard. Mr. Maxwell had gone on to explain what the BCI was, how it was the most hidden government agency and what his function was within it. He'd been recruited fresh out of college by Bennington himself due to his Master's degree in political science and his unwavering support of anything relating to civil rights. What Bennington hadn't known was that Maxwell's support of civil rights did not and never had extended to mutants._

_In the space of a few years, Maxwell had moved up through the ranks quickly, finally finding himself in the department in charge of the most sensitive of the BCI archives. Included in those archives were the hard copy files on Weapon X and Project Wideawake. At the time, the Director had not been the President. In fact, he hadn't even been Speaker of the House. He'd merely been a representative for the state of Texas, elected on the strengths of his military record. By that time, he'd been the Director of Weapon X for three years, appointed at the tender age of thirty-two. It was through those files that Maxwell had discovered the Director's identity. However, Maxwell was also a patient man and sensed that if he waited long enough, this mere representative would be much more before the decade was out. His patience was unexpectedly rewarded, which brought him to the Oval Office that day._

_Maxwell went on to explain how he found the Director and how he agreed wholeheartedly with his agenda of ridding the world of mutants once and for all. He told the then-President that he would be willing to make certain that his name never appeared in connection with Weapon X or Project Wideawake in return for being eventually brought in on both projects. He also said he'd report any unusual mutant activity that was recorded to the Director's attention. After mulling it over for a few minutes, he stood and shook Maxwell's hand and the bargain was set._

_From that point on, reports came to him about once a week. However, he had not had a report from his operative in over a month, which was highly unusual. Normally, he received one every week, twice if there was anything interesting to report. The first time that had happened was when the Weapon X main file and the individual files on Wolverine, Hellcat and Totem had inexplicably gone missing. A few days later, he received another report about an addendum to the X-Men file that gave them official government sanction to operate openly. When he confronted the head of the NSA about this, the man simply shrugged and said "If the official sanction is on it, there must have been a reason for it"._

_Frustrated, the Director had sent one of his most trusted men to see if he could find a way for this sanction to be revoked. The man came back a few weeks later with the news that it could be, but not without alerting everyone to the fact. It seemed that only the Joint Sub-Committee for Special Sanctions During World Conflicts could revoke this type of sanction after intensive study. Since that particular committee had been dissolved shortly after World War II and there was currently no official world conflict, it was impossible to reconvene that specific body without raising the alarm. The Director's hands were tied and the X-Men carried on with everything from search and rescue after a disaster to defending normal humans from attacks by their own kind. Mutant hysteria was slowly but surely becoming mutant acceptance._

_And now, nothing but silence from his operative inside the BCI. He was confident that Maxwell had managed to purge his name from every Weapon X and Project Wideawake files the BCI might have, so rather than spend too much time worrying about a man that had always been ultimately expendable, he turned to the second report in front him. In the past few years, Wolverine and Hellcat along with another disappointment, Totem, had successfully infiltrated and destroyed almost two dozen active Weapon X facilities. The only good news about this was that they weren't even trying to hide what they were doing, leaving the word "vengeance" painted in blood at every scene save one. The downside was that they were systematically eliminating the doctors, scientists and other specialists that had knowledge of the bonding process. Given enough time – and God knows the three of them have more than most – they would eventually bring the entire project to its knees. Since mutants with the feral gifts necessary to be included in the project were not very common, he had to be careful with the handful he had left. So that made the report in front of him all the more important._

_Four more feral mutants had been bagged over the past six months, two of which had healing factors almost as good as Wolverine's. They were currently at the testing facility underneath Area 51, undergoing a rigorous process that would test their strength, agility, stamina and the effectiveness of their healing factors. Those who survived the latter test would be immediately conditioned and brainwashed by the Director's pet telepaths and augmented. Then, if all went well, they would be trained in infiltration and assassination and sent into the field. Eventually, the Director's vision would be realized and he would control the most powerful army on the planet, an army designed to use mutants to eliminate their own kind._

_His mood now improved, the Director picked up the last report on his desk. He scanned it quickly, taking in the most important parts at a glance. "…the twenty-second attempt to clone subject 458-25-243, code name Wolverine, has also failed. Dr. Jurski speculates that attempting to force the gender of the zygote may be at fault and has suggested that we allow nature to take its course at least through that part of the process and to save any other genetic manipulation until the last trimester of development. Having tried all other avenues, we agreed and have proceeded with the insemination of the subject 458-25-497, code name Minx. We have great hopes that X-23 will be a success."_

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 10

(Logan)

**Two years later**

"Twenty-one down, way too fuckin' many to go." I said as a flopped down on our bed. Angela stretched out beside me with a sigh and I rolled over to face her. "Between this an' our regular jobs, I'm amazed we have time to breathe."

"Hey, it's not our fault those Friend of Humanity assholes don't know when it's better to give up." She replied as she slid her arm around me. "Not to mention Magneto's band of psychopaths going around and wreaking havoc in his name. Almost makes me wish he'd gotten away that night. At least he understood the effectiveness of one big gesture as opposed to dozens of little ones."

"I almost hate to agree with you, darlin'. But you're right, he was definitely the brains of that crew." I closed my eyes for a moment and felt myself drifting off, only to be shaken awake again a few minutes later. "Cut it out, I'm tryin' to sleep."

"Not without a shower, lover. I adore every inch of you, but I adore it even more when it's not covered in someone else's blood." She pointed to the bathroom and gave me a stern look. "Go, now."

"Hey, I ain't 'covered'." I grumbled but complied with her wishes. Not that I'll ever say it to her face but, she's the boss.

I came out half an hour later to find her sprawled over the comforter, sleeping peacefully. It struck me for the first time in years just how tiny she really is. Even with her arms and legs askew, she didn't even come close to taking up the entire king sized bed. When she's awake and teaching the kids or fighting on a mission, she seems larger than life. She certainly doesn't seem like she's over a foot shorter than me and if not for her metal bones, would probably not weigh a hundred pounds. I could have easily slid under the covers next to her and she'd never know the difference. But if I wasn't allowed to sleep with blood on my hands, neither was she. Creeping softly to the bed, I grabbed the blanket and flipped her onto the floor.

She landed in an undignified heap with a yelp but immediately sprang up in a defensive crouch, claws out. A heartbeat later, she scowled at me and her claws slid back into her fingers. "Logan, I'm going to kill you now." She grumbled.

"Sorry to disappoint you, darlin', but bigger an' badder than you have tried." I replied with a smirk.

"Oh yeah? Name one."

"Well, Sabretooth comes to mind."

She snorted. "I'll give you 'bigger' on that one, but not 'badder'. Before he was augmented, he was a right pansy."

"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow, not believing what I was hearing.

"You heard me. He was a right pansy. Sure, he's strong and quick, but his idea of a plan of attack was to blunder in and use his size to intimidate. At least, attempt to intimidate. I'd already been in the field for months by the time he showed up. I must say, for a big guy, he sure didn't know how to deal with a broken arm. Or two." She ran her fingers through her hair and started straightening the comforter. "Sure, they healed in about a day, but he still avoided me whenever he could."

"You broke Sabretooth's arms?" She nodded. "Both of them?" Another nod. "At the same time?"

"Logan, you're being dense. Yes, I broke both of his arms at the same time. He came lumbering towards me, I rolled out of the way, kicked him and snapped one. He turned to grab with the good arm and I snapped that one too. He always swore he'd get back at me for it, but so far he's never tried to make good on it."

"You know that he's never been seen since Liberty Island, right?"

"I know. But I also know he was the only operative who had a better healing factor than you." She finished righting the blanket and looked up. I was staring at her, a little shocked. "What?"

"How much better?"

She shrugged. "Remember that mission we did in Moscow?" I nodded. "Well, if you recall, you broke your arm and it took about thirty-six hours before it was fully healed. Sabretooth's arms healed in just under a day." She went to the dresser and pulled out some nightclothes. "And don't forget, Buzz found that file where they classified the healing factors. A factor one heals about twice as fast as a normal human and it doubles as it goes up. I'm a 4.9, which means I heal eight times faster than a normal human. The point nine is because of my nine lives. You're rated a nine. Sabretooth was rated a 9.5, just so you know."

Great, just what I needed to hear. "So was he always a major asshole or was that a side effect of the process?"

"No, he's always been an asshole. About the only favor Stryker ever did for me was making sure I was never partnered with him on a mission." She came over and gave me a quick kiss. "Ok, I'll be out in a bit." She slinked over to the bathroom door, then looked at me over her shoulder. "Don't get too comfy." She purred with a wink and a smile of promise.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later, I woke to the sound of whimpering coming from Evie's room. Angela was still asleep, so I eased myself out of bed and padded across the room. I pushed the door open and saw my daughter clutching Bosko and thrashing about a little. I went to her bedside and knelt down, shaking her a gently. "Hey princess, wake up. Daddy's here."

"No, don't go mommy." She mumbled, her face screwed up in fear. "Don't go!"

"C'mon Evie, wake up. It's just a dream." I shook her again and her eyes flew open. She looked over at me then threw herself into my arms, crying. "Shh, sweetheart, it's all right. Just a dream."

"N-no, Daddy, it wasn't!" She said forcefully, gulping back a sob. "It was real, I know it was!"

I cursed silently to myself as I comforted her, thinking back to that day when Xavier had offered to temporarily block Evie's power. Ultimately, Angela and I had decided not to do it, not because we didn't trust the Professor, but because we didn't think it was right to meddle with her mind in that way. Now I was wondering if we'd made that decision in haste. "Do ya wanna tell me 'bout it?"

She nodded and pulled away a bit, but kept hold of my hand. "You and Mommy were goin' somewhere, but it wasn't with the X-Men cuz you weren't in your uniforms. You had Uncle Kyro with you too. Mommy told me it was a special mission, an' that's why you were in regular clothes, but I knew she wasn't telling the truth. Then I saw you guys in a place where it was full of snow, but the snow was red and there were people after you. And when you were leaving, there was one man that was still after you that you didn't see and he shot Mommy and she died!"

She leaned back into my chest and I stroked her hair. "Ah princess, it was just a dream, ok?"

"No it's not! It's a real one, I know it is!"

Now she had my curiosity piqued. "You can tell the difference?"

"Yeah, I can. Pretend dreams are like when I'm a real princess with a castle and everything. But the real dreams feel like I'm right there in them."

"How many real ones have you had?"

She shrugged and looked up at me. "I dunno. A lot. Like I dreamed that Uncle Kurt was gonna hurt his tail and then the next day it got broken in the Danger Room. And I once dreamed that Mommy was gonna buy me the 'Cinderella' DVD and she came home with it that weekend."

I didn't know what to say. I knew my daughter was probably going to have this power; we both did. But I had never expected it to be this full-blown while she was still so young. Was it too late to take Chuck up on his offer? "Honey, can I ask you somethin'?"

"What?"

"Would you like it better if we did somethin' so you don't have to see all this stuff right now?"

"I don't get it."

I sighed. "Uncle Charlie said that he could do somethin' to make it so you wouldn't have true dreams til you were older. Would you like that?"

She thought about it for a minute, then shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, not all of them are bad stuff, like you guys goin' away and bad stuff happening."

"I know princess. But you might see things that are really scary an' sometimes me an' Mommy might be in those. All your aunts an' uncles too."

"Would it hurt like when Uncle Hank gave me my shots?"

"No, nothin' like that." I said with a smile. "He'll just think at ya for a little bit an' the dreams will stop for awhile."

"Maybe. I'll hafta think about it."

I chuckled and kissed her forehead. "All right then, I'll talk to him when you decide." I helped her get settled back into her bed. "Now get back to sleep, punkin'. You got a busy day tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know. First day of school. " She settled in and closed her eyes and I stood up. "Daddy, I love you." She whispered.

"Love you too, Evie. Sweet dreams."

I left her room and closed the door softly behind me, then crossed back over to the bed. I slipped in next to Angela and she rolled over sleepily, tossing an arm around me. I pulled her in close and kissed the top of her head, but I knew I'd never get back to sleep. My little girl was dreaming things we'd already planned to do and it sounded like at least one mission was gonna go tits up. What else was her mind trying to tell her? Was it too late to stop Weapon X from coming for her? I thought about what Angela had said a couple years ago about sending Evie away and wondered if she might not have been right all along. I lay there, staring at the ceiling for the rest of the night, listening to my two best girls as they slept peacefully.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next few weeks passed in a blur. It wasn't uncommon for almost half of Alpha team to be off on one mission or another as Magneto's followers continued their attacks on civilians. However, since the X-Men had become more or less public figures, normal people were finally getting it through their thick skulls that mutants and humans had a lot more in common than they thought, most just wanting to live their lives in peace. If only the Friends of Humanity could have figured that out, our lives would have been far less interesting. It was because of that organization that Xavier had Alpha team meet with the civilian authorities at the mansion in early October.

Alpha team had swollen to sixteen members by then, with Sage, Medusa and Phantom moving up through the ranks quickly. Jamie, Jesse and Julian had all gone off to college, but had all promised to return to teach and rejoin the team in the future. Because there were so many of us, we decided to have the meeting outside on the patio, partly so we could enjoy the weather while it lasted. When Angela and I arrived, the Professor was already chatting with several men and women who each represented a different law enforcement entity. There were representatives from Interpol, the FBI and the RCMP as well as the Fraternal Order of Police (the American policeman's union), amongst others. I raised an eyebrow when I saw the Mountie sitting there; they pride themselves on their motto, "We always get our man", but I can think of more than a few times that I had slipped through their fingers. An incident in Montreal just before Weapon X had captured me comes to mind.

At any rate, we made small talk with the group as we waited for the others to join us. Sam, Kurt, Chasca and Phantom were off on a rescue mission in South America after an earthquake and wouldn't be here for this, along with Sarah, Sage, Warren and Kyro, who were off in the South Pacific assisting with the aftermath of a hurricane. The other eight arrived about fifteen minutes later with Rogue coming in last. She smiled apologetically at everyone as she took her seat. "Sorry, I'm late. Had to give out a little cleanin' detail to a couple kids after class." She glanced over at Angela and me, nodding as she caught my eye. Shit, what had Evie done to get a punishment detail? I nodded back to indicate that we'd discuss this later and we turned our attention to the meeting.

The so-called "Friends of Humanity" had sprung up a few months after the Presidential election, but had gained worldwide support in the years following. These guys make white supremacists look like the Ladies Auxiliary, only without the charm. I'm not trying to say that what white supremacists do is ok, but for the most part they're content to harass and beat up anyone who's not white. At least they confined their crimes to those old enough to have at least a chance of defending themselves. The FOH liked to kidnap mutants, the younger the better, and torture them before shooting them execution style. Of course, whenever the founders of this group were interviewed, they played it off as the "extremists" in their ranks, that their actions were not the norm for the group. The Professor, Scott, Kurt and myself all believed otherwise.

Anyway, hate crimes against mutants were on the rise again and the FOH seemed to be at the center of it. The X-Men wanted nothing more than to assist law enforcement in catching these assholes and putting a stop to their crimes, hopefully before anyone got hurt. We already had the government sanction to hunt down mutant criminals, complete with diplomatic immunity if we were in another country, but these were humans and I was pretty sure our sanction would disappear like it had never been there if we tried anything without going through the motions first. That was the focus of the meeting and in the end, no one was very happy with the outcome.

We had to make a compromise. The X-Men could go in and attempt to save any mutants the FOH currently had in their custody, but we were to avoid any confrontation with the actual humans unless they took a shot at us. The human officers would deal with the humans. I'm sure it goes without saying that Angela and I were less than happy about this, along with Bobby, Storm, Rogue and Remy. The others simply accepted it as the best we were gonna get. I scowled as the representatives left, then turned to Xavier. "Chuck, I'm sure I don't have to tell ya that I don't like this one bit."

"No, Logan, you don't." He replied, rubbing his forehead. "But we have to accept this compromise for the time being."

"What if we promise not to kill any of them?" Angela added. "I mean, they can still go to trial if they're maimed, right?"

The Professor chuckled softly. "Yes, I'm sure they could Angela, but no we can't maim them either."

"Suddenly, I wish John was back." Bobby said softly. "With that mouth of his, he could have gotten them to attack us inside the first ten seconds."

"Hell, five seconds if there was a fire anywhere nearby." Rogue replied. "Well, I don't care what anyone says, I'm with Logan on this one. Anyone pointin' a gun at me or one of my kind ain't gettin' the benefit of any doubt."

"Trust me kid, they'll be pointin' guns all over the place." I growled. "An' especially at us, since we ain't the most inconspicuous bunch o' mutants."

"Still, it's a start." Xavier said as he thumbed the control on his chair. "It will take more than a few years for the entire world to accept us."

He glided back into the mansion and everyone followed him except me, Angela and Rogue. I lit up a cigar and took a deep drag, still trying to come to grips with the situation. I was most definitely with Angela on this one. These FOH bastards weren't going to cut us any slack, so I didn't see any reason why I should hold back on them. After a few minutes, I turned and joined the girls at the table where they'd settled down. "So Rogue, why'd you give Evie a cleanin' detail anyway?"

"I think she's gettin' more control of power than she's been lettin' on." Marie said. "Her class had a spellin' test today and she finished it before everyone else did."

"And this is a problem because?"

"She finished before I was done readin' off half the words. I saw her sittin' there, neat as you please, with her hands folded on top of her paper. When I asked her what she was doin', she told me she was already done. I looked at her paper and sure enough, she had them all there, spelled correctly."

"So what does that have to do with her power?" Angela asked.

"When I asked her how she got done before I was even halfway through, she said she saw her paper already graded sittin' on my desk and they were all spelled right, so she just copied what she saw."

"Ah, I see." I said and took another pull on my cigar. "I take it you explained to her that it was cheatin'?"

"You bet, but she tried to argue with me, sayin' that it's not cheatin' if you copy off your own paper, even if it's a future paper. Then her little friend Wendy jumped in to defend her and well…the rest is history."

I shook my head and sighed, then looked over to Angela. "She's your daughter, darlin'."

"And yours, unless that scowl she's developing skips a generation too." She replied with a half-smile. "I take it you don't want to have the ethics conversation with her?"

"Hell no. Most o' my ethics go right out the window every mission we've been on. You should know that."

"Not really, Logan. You don't just kill everyone in sight. Well, as long as we're not on a Weapon X base, that is." I scowled at her and she laughed. "All right, I'll talk to her tomorrow at breakfast. But you lover," she whispered as she leaned forward, "_you_ get to have the sex talk with her when the time comes."

I stared at her in terror while she and Marie laughed their asses off. Women.

* * *

**AN:** Sorry this is a little bit late!! Only 15 minutes by my clock...my computer's been wonky lately and to make matter worse, a very close friend of mine died Monday afternoon...so everyone please forgive me for not putting in my usual thanks and stuff, but i'm just not feeling up to it right now...but i still love you all for reading, reviewing and having fun with me and this insane saga that won't let me go... 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

(Angela)

The next day was Saturday and one of the few times we could actually convince our daughter to eat breakfast with us. Once she was settled down in between us with her pancakes, I asked her about the incident with her spelling test. She heaved a great sigh and put down her fork. "Mommy, I'm sorry. I couldn't help it, really. I just saw the paper and wrote down everything I saw."

"Honey, you can't do that." I said mildly. "Just because you have this power doesn't mean you can use it for stuff like that."

"How come? I wasn't copying from someone else. It was MY paper I saw!"

"I understand that, sweetheart. But it's not fair to the kids who can't do that. You should only use your power to help other people, not for selfish things."

She sighed again. "I know. Uncle Charlie tells me that all the time. But it's not like I did it on purpose, you know. It just...happened!"

I looked over her head at Logan, who decided to jump in after all. "Princess, do ya remember what we talked about a few weeks ago, about havin' Uncle Charlie block your power for you?" Evie nodded and I gave Logan a curious look. He gave me a slight shake of his head before continuing. "I'm guessin' that you're still thinkin' about it, but if you keep usin' your power this way, he might not have a choice."

"Logan, I don't think..."

He cut me off. "Well I do. There's a reason why he drives ethics so deep into these kids that they second-guess themselves half the time in the Danger Room. Now I ain't sayin' that it's not a good thing, but there's a time an' a place for everythin'." He looked back at Evie, his expression softening. "An' school ain't the place to be usin' your power. Now if it's like that day you pushed Wendy outta the way to save her, that's one thing. But if I hear anythin' else about you usin' your power in class, you'll be grounded from the next five field trips an' no TV for a month."

Evie swallowed hard and looked at her plate. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I promise, I won't do it again."

"That's good princess. Now finish your pancakes, you got a busy day today don't ya?"

"Yeah, it's Jenna's birthday and we're going to Chuck E. Cheese's." Logan scowled and I barely managed to suppress a grin. "I'm gonna try and win a friend for Bosko."

"You do that, sweetie." I said and we finished our breakfast with nothing more pressing than small talk.

A few hours later, we waved at the van as it rolled out of the school gates. I turned to Logan, hugging myself when a chilly breeze sprang up. I pushed a curl out of my eyes and turned to him. "So, when did you talk to her about having Charles block her power?" I asked. He explained the dream she'd had a few weeks prior, which sounded a hell of a lot like the setting of the next base we'd planned on hitting. I could see why she'd been upset about it, but I was also secretly glad that she'd had it. After all, forewarned is forearmed and all that. "So how come you never told me about this?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I dunno. I kinda figured she'd talk to you about it on her own."

"Lover, she's eight years old. She's getting to the point where she wants to be grown up enough to make these decisions on her own."

He looked down and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I hafta like it."

"I wouldn't expect you to. But she can't stay a little girl forever."

He pulled me into his arms and held me close. "Well, at least she's got the best mother in the world to take care of her."

"And the best father, don't forget that." I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. "Come on. We have the suite to ourselves for the next three hours. Better take advantage of that while we can." He looked at me with a mischievous gleam in his eyes, then raced me to our room. He beat me by a few seconds, but I made sure he got to thoroughly enjoy the spoils of victory.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A week later, we set out on a mission to a base that was in a remote part of Alaska. It was early October, which made for beautiful weather in New York, but Alaska would be another story entirely. Chasca was down with the flu and Kyro didn't want to leave her bedside, so it was just me and Logan on this jaunt. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I really hate winter. I like weather where I can be outside all the time if I want to and winter in most of the places I've lived just doesn't qualify. Yet here I was, haring off into the Alaskan wilderness to search the tundra for yet another Weapon X facility. On the way there, I had a notion that it might be fun to just cut their power and wait for them to freeze to death, but discarded it because it just takes too long. Besides, killing them would help keep me warm.

Logan had to park the jet about four klicks to the north of the base in order to find anything that remotely resembled cover. The area we were in was mostly flat and white, which made it extremely difficult to hide something huge and black like Blackbird One. However, we did manage to find a rock formation jutting out of the earth that was barely big enough to hide the jet behind. I grumbled as I stood from my seat at the back and zipped up the white parka I'd gotten for this mission, not looking forward to the frigid trek ahead of us. Logan powered down the jet and set the proximity sensors before heading back to check our gear. Once we were sure we had everything we needed, he turned to me and I slid easily into his arms.

"Gotta go in a few minutes." He rumbled as he stroked my hair.

"I know." I replied with a sigh. He tilted my head up and kissed me softly, which made my heart clench. "Do you think this is the one Evie dreamed about?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. She said Kyro was here with us, which he woulda been if Chasca wasn't so sick. Maybe she saw somethin' different. We might never know." He stroked my cheek and I leaned into his hand. "Hell, for all we know, it's all changed anyway just because Kyro ain't here."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." I turned and picked up the goggles I'd have to wear to protect my eyes from the wind and cold. "Just promise that if I do end up getting killed, you won't go right home. I don't want Evie to see me that way."

"Darlin', she knows about your mutation."

"I understand that, but I don't see any reason to shock her with seeing me dead, even temporarily."

"All right, whatever you say. We'll go to the cabin if we can."

I smiled. "Mm, maybe we'll take an extra day and go there anyway." I purred.

"Sounds like a plan." He leaned down and kissed me again, then lowered the ramp. I wrapped a scarf around the bottom half of my face and raised my hood, Logan doing the same, and we exited the jet.

We made our way cautiously over the snowy plain, the frigid wind finding every little seam in my outer clothing and biting into my flesh. On the upside, that same wind was covering our tracks as soon as we left them, so it was unlikely that anyone would be able to follow our tracks back to the jet. We didn't bother looking around for perimeter guards or proximity sensors surrounding this place; out here, the elements did ninety-nine percent of that work for them. We wouldn't see another living person until we were actually inside the base and by then, it would be too late – for them.

The ground beneath us was mostly snow packed into a solidly frozen mass with about two inches of loose powder on top, so the going wasn't too rough. The packed snow beneath us wasn't nearly as slippery as I thought it was going to be, since it never really got warm enough this far north for it to melt and ice back over. As if to punctuate that point, another blast of arctic wind washed over us and I shivered. This mission couldn't be over soon enough for me.

A little over an hour later, we caught sight of the fence surrounding the perimeter of the base. Had we not known what we were looking for, I would have personally written it off as abandoned. It didn't look like a base so much as a collection of snow-covered Quonset-style bunkers that could have belonged to an Inuit village for all I knew. But the native people of the region didn't surround their villages with ten-foot high fences topped with razor wire. We crouched behind a boulder that was about a hundred yards from the fence and peered into the gloom, it being mostly dark all the time this time of year, but we detected no movement on the outside. Of course, the whole point of having a facility out here in the butt crack of the Norse hell was isolation. Except for the lack of trees, it reminded me a lot of Alkali Lake in the middle of winter and I shuddered.

Once we were satisfied that there was no one about on the outside, we approached the fence with caution. I pulled back my hood to uncover my ears, noted that Logan did the same, but neither one of us heard the tell tale hum that would indicate an electrified barrier. I shrugged and put my hood up again as Logan popped a claw on his right hand and carefully cut the fence. There was still no indication that we'd been detected and I started to wonder if maybe we'd been wrong about this facility and it really _was_ abandoned. Oh well, we'd come this far – might as well see it to the end. Staying low, we rushed to the side of one of the bunkers for cover.

Logan tapped my shoulder and I looked over to him. He tapped the side of his head and I understood the unspoken question. I took off one of my thick mittens and reached under my hood to tap my earpiece. "Yes, Wolverine?" I asked as I replaced the mitten.

"Place looks dead." He whispered into his own com unit. "Even though it's mostly underground, you'd think there'd still be _some_ signs up here."

"Affirmative. But we've come this far…" I trailed off, knowing I didn't need to finish the statement. He caught my eyes and nodded once. "All right then. We know the entrance is in the far bunker from where we are. Let's get this show on the road, I'm freezing."

He nodded again and took the lead. I followed about three feet behind him, keeping my guard up. If someone decided to pop out of one of the other bunkers right then, I'd be at a severe disadvantage. Even with my better-than-human healing, I'd succumb to frostbite in next to no time if I removed even one mitten to bring my claws into the equation and the bulky outer garments all but negated my increased agility. At least Logan could pop his claws through his gloves and completely ignore frostbite for the most part. After all, he'd been butt naked when we escaped Alkali Lake and it took us a few hours to find clothing for him. I'd been amazed that he hadn't frozen off anything vital, but his healing factor made mine look positively human. But we made it to the bunker without incident, thank the gods.

Logan lowered his hood once more and briefly listened at the door before indicating that it was safe. He popped a single claw and sliced through the lock on the door, then carefully pushed it open. Again, I had the thought that this place had to be abandoned, because the bunker was nothing but a huge, empty space. "Wolverine, what's going on here?" I whispered into the com.

"No idea." He sniffed the air, then turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "But I smell people, so this place ain't as empty as they'd like us to think."

"Do you think they're expecting us?"

"Of course they're expectin' us, darlin'. They just didn't know we'd be _here_ today. We ain't hit nothin' in North America in almost a year."

"You know what I mean."

He frowned in thought, then shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so. Only three people knew we were comin' here today an' one of us is back home."

"Yeah, cozy and warm with his lady, probably sitting in front of the fire sipping tea." I sighed wistfully, thinking of how nice that would be.

Logan chuckled. "Now don't start thinkin' about that stuff, it'll distract ya. Focus."

"Yes sir Wolverine sir." I replied sarcastically and he chuckled again. I turned and closed the door as well as I could, then followed Logan to the smaller room near the back of the bunker. According to the plans for this base in the Weapon X file, the entrance was in there, which was highly unimaginative of these people. The entrance was _always _in the back of a small office in a bunker or a warehouse. Just once I wished they'd put it somewhere else, like behind a cabinet in the officer's quarters or the third stall from the left in the men's room. We paused for a moment to strip off our outer garments, for which I was supremely grateful. Soon enough, I was barefoot and wearing only black and gray camo pants and a black micro-fiber shirt. Logan was similarly attired, except he wore a black wife beater and kept his boots on. At the back of the small room was a file cabinet, the only piece of furniture in the whole building. He opened the top drawer and felt around until he found the button that would release the door hidden in the wall. A few seconds later, a whole section of wall swung outward, exposing a set of concrete stairs that led into the bowels of the earth. We were in.

I had almost expected it to be cool as we descended, but the air grew increasingly warmer as we made our way down the stairs. We went down about thirty feet before coming to another door, this one with the ubiquitous slot for a magnetic key card. Logan simply jammed a claw into the reader and the door slid open a couple inches. He slipped his hands in the gap and pushed the door aside with a small grunt of effort, pausing to take stock of the hallway in front of us. I could see from where I was standing that it was almost completely dark, lit only by a few widely spaced lights recessed into the ceiling. He glanced back at me with a raised eyebrow, sliding the rest of his claws out slowly to minimize the sound. I followed suit, having shucked my boots in the office upstairs. I strained my ears to try and catch even the slightest sound, but I could hear nothing. Chancing detection, I whispered quietly, "Are you _sure_ there's still people here?"

"I can smell 'em." He replied just as softly. "This don't make any sense."

I nodded in agreement. "Could it be a trap?"

"Anythin's possible, but if they wanted to capture us they'd have done it by now."

"So, go on?"

He nodded and stepped into the hall, taking a long sniff to orient himself. "This way." He said, jerking his head to the right. He prowled carefully down the hall, his booted feet making no more than a whisper as he moved. I followed a couple feet behind him, my bare feet making no sound at all. The air had a dead quality to it, not quite stagnant but almost as though the whole complex was holding its breath. Which was ridiculous, but the feeling still made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and I shuddered involuntarily. As we made our way further in, the feeling grew more intense and I finally had a word I could put to it. This place felt _haunted_.

Now, before anyone discounts that description, let me explain. Whether or not you believe in ghosts, it is a fact that some places just feel a little bit off. It could be the old house on the hill that your friends dared you to go up to and knock on the door when you were little. Maybe it's the old abandoned boarding school with the freaky statue out front and the pool that's still half-full of black water. Hell, maybe it's just a corner of the park that everyone avoids or the Civil War section of the cemetery. No matter what that place was for you, that place exists somewhere in the story of your life and that feeling it gave you probably lasts to this day. For me, it had been a former speakeasy in New York City just before I'd gone to Canada the first time a few years after Prohibition. It had been converted into an apartment long before, but it still had a hidden door that led to a set of stairs, which in turn let out into a sub-basement of the building. I'd only paid for a month's lease on the place, since I was only staying long enough to make enough money to continue my journey north. I wound up only staying four days and those are four days I will never forget. It's not that I saw or heard anything, it wasn't unnaturally cold, it didn't even _look_ spooky. But the place felt wrong and my inner animal was distinctly unhappy with the place. I called the landlord and told him I was leaving, keep the money, have a nice life. He just sighed and said, "You lasted longer than anyone else. Can't rent that place to save my life."

So yeah, this base felt haunted. Maybe it was the ghosts of other hapless victims of Weapon X who were less fortunate than Logan and I. Maybe it was because of the isolation of being here in the middle of nowhere Alaska. Maybe a bit of both. Either way, I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I stopped in my tracks and whispered to Logan, "Wait."

"What?" He replied, turning to me.

"This place gives me the wiggins."

"Darlin', they _all_ give me the wiggins, whatever the hell that means."

I couldn't help but smile a little. "Sorry. Guess I watched too much 'Buffy' with Rogue when I was on bed rest." I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. "But seriously, doesn't this place just feel off to you?"

"Yeah, but they all do. Brings back bad memories. You should know."

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's just…" I trailed off when I heard voices. Logan heard them too and we whipped our heads about, frantically searching for some kind of cover. The best we could find was a slightly recessed doorway a few feet ahead of us. We ducked into it and waited. A few seconds later, we heard them approaching us.

"…ockdown procedures are almost done, sir." Said the first voice, a female.

"Very good, Major Baird." The second voice, definitely male. "Has everything been moved to the archives?"

"Almost, there's just a few more specimens left in cryo that Dr. Horner says can't be moved until tomorrow, some kind of leak in the units."

"Perfect. I can't wait to get outta this hellhole. I sure hope the Director knows what he's doing, moving all this stuff out there."

"Sir, if I may ask. Why are we moving?"

The two people stopped about ten feet from our position. "Major, that is on a need-to-know basis and…"

"Spare me the bullshit, Colonel. You and I both know that something has the Director spooked. If it's something that affects this project and the people in it, then I damn well _do_ need to know!"

The Colonel sighed and shifted his weight. "How up-to-date are you on your history, Baird?"

"I stopped keeping track after high school, if that's what you mean."

"It isn't. I mean the history of this project, what do you know about it?"

There was a slight pause, "Not all of it, sir. Just that there was an incident at Alkali Lake over twenty years ago, a couple specimens escaped but they were taken care of."

"Yeah, that's the story we tell you all when you're recruited to the program. The truth is a lot messier."

"What do you mean?" I could hear the suspicion in her voice.

"I mean they didn't just 'escape'. They slaughtered most of the big brains that pioneered the procedure and vanished into thin air. They were never 'taken care of'. We didn't find either of them until almost nine years ago and he got away from us again. That was bad enough until he hooked back up with his old partner." He snorted bitterly. "Now they're goddamn superheroes and we can't do shit about them without getting all their friends on our asses. Believe me, that's a headache we don't need."

"Sir, with all due respect, that still doesn't explain why we're moving everything to the archives."

"The escapees somehow found the location of just about every base that we have worldwide and they've been taking their revenge on whoever they find. No one's been left alive."

Baird gasped. "So, what are you saying? Are they coming here?"

"Unknown. Their last hit was in Central America. Their next one could be here, or Death Valley or Iceland for all we know. But believe me, you do _not_ want to be here when Wolverine and Hellcat show up."

Logan stepped out of the doorway and pointed his claws at the pair. "Too late." He growled. I heard the sound of a sidearm being pulled from its holster and Logan made a barely perceptible gesture with his other hand for me to stay put.

"Put your hands over your fucking head _now_, asshole!" Baird shouted.

"Major, please do not provoke this man," The Colonel said, "shooting him will only make him angry."

"Smart move, bub." Logan said and took a step forward. "Now, we can do this easy or we can do it the other way. What're the archives?"

"That's classified information." Baird spat.

"I'm sure it is. But you're gonna declassify it, as of now." He took another step. "I promise, you tell me what I wanna know, I'll kill ya quick."

"Wolverine, listen to me." The Colonel said. "You can't keep doing this. How long do you think you can keep this revenge scheme up?"

"FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES!" Logan shouted. "Did ya know I got my memories back? All of 'em, the real ones? You bastards stole over a hundred years from me. Over a century, just so ya could have your perfect fuckin' weapon." He took a third step and I heard the Colonel whimper. "How do you like me now?"

"Better yet, how do you like_ us_?" I said as I moved into the hall. I noted that Logan had his claws about an inch from the Colonel's throat and Major Baird still had the gun trained on my lover. I sauntered over and she whipped the gun around and pointed it at me. "That won't keep me down forever, sweetheart and I don't lay good odds on your chances if you use it," I said with a pointed look at Logan. "So why don't you just put it away before one of you gets hurt, k?"

"Wh-who are you people?" She asked, a tremor in her voice.

"Not too bright, is she Wolverine?" I asked and she paled. "Yet another fine example of 'military intelligence'."

"Hey now, let's not get personal." Logan replied. "I was in the intelligence division with the Special Forces, ya know."

"Oh, I stand corrected." I crossed my arms and stared at the Major. "Now, why don't you answer his question. What are the archives and where can we find them?"

"I already told him, it's…"

"Classified, I know." I took a step forward and she tightened her grip on her gun. "You're still gonna tell us, whether you want to or not." Another step. "So let's do this the easy way, all right?"

"We're dead either way." The Colonel spat and Logan touched the tips of his claws to his chin.

"Ain't that the truth," He said, "but like I said before, we'll make it quick."

"The archives are in Nevada." Said another voice behind us and I whirled around. Standing there was a middle-aged man with thinning blond hair, a pair of glasses perched on top of his head. "I believe you would call it 'Area 51'."

"Horner, for God's sake, shut up!" The Colonel spat.

"Why? We're all already dead, we just don't know it yet." He replied mildly. "Besides, after what happened to these two, the least they deserve is the truth."

I heard the sound of Major Baird shifting behind me, so I spun around and grabbed her gun hand, pointing the weapon at the ceiling as I elbowed her in the nose. She let out a cry of pain, but loosened her grip on the weapon enough for me to disarm her. I grabbed her by the front of her shirt and pulled her close to me. "Listen here, you dumb bitch. I am not in the mood to play games with you. Your pal Horner here's got it right; you were dead the minute we set foot in this place. The three of you might as well tell us what we want to know and go out with a little dignity." She leveled her best glare at me and I gave her a shake. "Or you can try to keep your secrets, but I guarantee that by the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging to tell me what I want to know."

"Please, leave her alone. She doesn't know everything anyway." Sampson spoke up, a tremor in his voice. He swallowed hard and somehow had the stones to look Logan in the eye. "Wolverine, let me go. I'll tell you everything." Logan growled, but released the Colonel with a little shove. Sampson swallowed again, rubbing his neck as though to make sure it was still intact. "Come this way." He said with a jerk of his head, indicating the hall the doctor had come from. Logan and I looked at each other and I let the Major go. She glared at me again, but we all fell into step behind the Colonel as he led us into the bowels of hell.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the end, the Colonel and Dr. Horner told us everything we wanted to know. They told us about new subjects being bonded even as we spoke and where they could be found, about the archives and exactly what they held. But the worst part was what the doctor showed us in the cryogenic storage area. It seems that many people in the program, from the Director on down, considered Logan to be the best of the subjects that went through the bonding process due to his natural weaponry. Of course, no one had known about his claws until they captured him, but since they gave him his own concealed weapons that could not be disarmed, they were ecstatic. What they hadn't counted on was the process driving him berserk and the rest is history. Since then, they'd been trying to clone him and that project had been the focus of this facility for over twenty years. The cryo units the doctor showed us contained four of the failed attempts.

I won't get into all the technobabble that the doctor put us through, but the basic concept was simple. Every person that was turned into a weapon by the project had been forced to give blood, tissue and in the case of the males, semen samples at regular intervals. If one resisted them when they came to get the samples, they were put through weeks of "reconditioning", which is a politically correct way of saying "torture". We all learned early on to just give the samples and be done with it. So Weapon X had gods only know how much of Logan's sperm to play around with. In the beginning, when cloning technology was still a virtual unknown, they'd tried extracting only the genes they wanted, namely his X gene, and inserting it into the DNA of a fetus in the early stages of development. When that didn't work out, they tried combining his X gene with those of other subjects, usually Sabretooth, but those results were just as poor. Finally, they decided to artificially inseminate a female operative and they tried manipulating fetal development to get an exact replica of Logan.

I stood there looking at the _things_ in those cryo units and I felt my rage at these people take on a whole new meaning. The oldest one was about four, the youngest appeared to be a newborn infant. None of them even vaguely resembled anything approaching human; hell, Hank McCoy looked more human than the monstrous things frozen in those tubes. And from what I understand, there were eighteen more of them in the archives beneath the Nevada desert. But the real bombshells were saved for last. First, the archives had more than just the bodies of the failed clones; the body of every mutant that had ever been killed during testing was there. All of them, including my Emma. Secondly, the twenty-third attempt to clone Logan was, so far, considered a success. I can still hear Dr. Horner as he gasped out his last words. "X-23 will be everything you're not, Wolverine. She's perfect and she's in our control."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You know getting into that place will be almost impossible." I said as Logan eased the jet into the sky. Behind us lay the remains of the base, smoke rising from the ground where the bunkers once stood, our calling card spread across the snow in bloody letters. "No one's ever gotten in there that wasn't supposed to be there."

"I know." He replied, the tension audible in his voice. "But they've gone too fuckin' far."

"Yes, they have." I closed my eyes and all I could see was Emma's sweet little face, the way she looked the last time I saw her. "But I'll do whatever I have to do to get her back."

"Me too, darlin'. Me too." He spared a glance over his shoulder to me, but neither one of us was smiling. "Let's go home. We need to plan."

* * *

**AN:** Well, there you have it folks, another chapter in the can...or whatever the expression should be for stuff that's written...:) I'm feeling a bit under the weather right now, so i'm gonna skip the big long list of thanks and stuff...BUT, i do have a reply...levanna: thanks for the hug, i needed it...and as for the other bit, blame the beta readers...if they tell me it's good to go, i believe them...:) And since i have three of 'em, if they all agree, then i upload and post...i'll go back through the original and see if i can't fix it up a bit...but not today, i feel like i've been hit with a Mack truck, then trampled by a herd of water buffalo...thanks for the review!

**Now, all you non-reviewing readers...i still love you, but i still want to hear from you too! So go ahead and hit the "go" button next to where it says "submit review" and just say hello! I'll post a new chapter right away, dedicated to you!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

(Logan)

Alaska was a real eye-opener, the kind that brings up all the old nightmares all over again. All that shit I thought I put behind me was right there in the front again, men in hazmat suits looming over me, forcing white-hot metal under my skin, cooking me from the inside out. Had I not seen what was in those cryo units for myself, I'd have never believed it. Those things were supposed to be me, clones of _me_, and the thought made me sick. From what Horner told us, they also kept the bodies of the mutants who hadn't survived the bonding process, keeping them so they could study them to figure out why. They'd used the old method on most of them, the same one Angela went through before Stryker came up with the chemical soup he put me and most of the others in. The same process that killed her more than half a dozen times, her mutation the only reason she'd technically survived it at all.

But the worst part was knowing that they'd saved the bodies of every single mutant who'd ever died during any process they'd been put through, even testing. To us, that meant one thing: Emma. Horner said they probably still had Angela's daughter on ice somewhere, doing God only knows what with her body. But that was only where the horror started. Horner had let on that my escape was a lot more damaging than we'd first suspected. None of the other active operatives had my natural weaponry, not even Deathstrike. Stryker truly had given her claws, but no one else had received that enhancement, probably due to her having a healing factor easily on par with my own. On the other hand, even Stryker hadn't been crazy enough to give a psycho like Sabretooth any more reasons to be violent. It was almost a hobby to that asshole, I swear. At any rate, the worst part was where they had honestly thought that I was the most successful subject from the entire Weapon X program, so when they were unable to recapture me, they'd decided to just make another one. The archives were also chock full of the twenty-two failed attempts to clone yours truly.

"Chuck, I don't care what it takes," I said as soon as we'd gotten cleaned up from our jaunt, "we're gettin' in there if it's the last thing I do."

"Logan, Area 51 is the most secure military facility in the country if not the world." He replied, trying to reason with me. "Perhaps Mr. Bennington…"

"Fuck that. If he knew that the archives were there, why weren't they included in the files he gave us, huh? Answer that one for me."

"I don't know." He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "But it is reasonable to assume that Weapon X is not the only project that's active out there. He wouldn't want you to kill innocent people."

"No such animal, Xavier." I snorted.

"Very well. He wouldn't want you to kill people who are innocent of any involvement in Weapon X."

"Splittin' that hair awful fine, dontcha think?"

"Logan, I am not going to argue the ethics of this situation any more than we've already done. You already know I don't agree with your personal vendetta, as much as I may understand your need to do it. The fact still remains that getting into that facility will be next to impossible."

"Charles, they have Emma." Angela spoke for the first time since our midnight meeting started. "They have my little girl there, on ice, for gods only know what purpose. If it kills me a thousand times, I'm getting her back and sending her off the right way." Tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks and I crossed the room to sit next to her. I gathered her into my arms, but for the first time in twenty years, she pushed me away. "There has to be a way to get in there, someone who can help us."

"Angela, please think about this…"

"THERE IS NOTHING TO THINK ABOUT!" Angela shouted, cutting him off as she sprang to her feet. "They have my little girl in there. She'd be a grown woman by now, maybe even living here with us if Stryker hadn't taken her from me. Now I know where she is and nothing, _nothing_ is going to stop me from getting her back. If you won't help me, then I have nothing more to say to you."

She whirled around and ran from the office, and I started after her. Before I reached the door, Xavier stopped me. "Logan, please, just listen to me."

I turned slowly. "What the fuck could you possibly have to say to me that'll change my mind?"

"I'm not going to try to change it. I just want you to know that no matter what happens, you will both always have a place here."

"Dahell you talkin' 'bout?" I asked, confused.

"Logan, I am not a young man and someday I will be gone. When that happens, you already know that Scott is the person I've chosen to take over the school."

"Is there somethin' you're not tellin' me?"

"Not as such, no. But you need to realize that if you or Angela is captured making an attempt on Area 51, it may be a very long time before you set foot in this school again. No matter how far into the future that may be, I want you to know that this will always be a home for you."

"Look Xavier, the reason me an' Angela were the best is cuz we never got caught, no matter how impossible it looked to be. This ain't nothin' we ain't ready for." I turned back to the door and opened it, but paused before I left, looking at the Professor over my shoulder. "But you need to remember that me an' her went through hell cuz o' those people, an' in some ways hers was worse. If the only real comfort she gets outta this whole thing is finally bein' able to bury her first daughter, I'm gonna do what I gotta do to give that to her."

"Logan…"

"I mean it, Chuck." I turned back to him. "Don't get in the way o' this. More'n anythin' we've done so far, this is somethin' we gotta do."

I walked out, ignoring his mental pleas for me to stay and went upstairs. Angela was in Evie's room, stroking her hair and watching her sleep, her cheeks still wet with tears. She was looking at our daughter, but I knew she was seeing her Emma lying there too. "Angela, let's get some sleep."

"I miss her, Logan. I miss her so damn much." She whispered.

"I know darlin'. We'll get her back." She stood up and slipped into my arms. "Word of honor, we'll get her back."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next week was insanely busy for both of us, with mid-term exams and the advancement of teams. When I finally had the time to spare, I cornered Sage and Buzz in the security office. "Hey you two, remember back to the whole Master Mold thing?" I asked.

"Kinda hard to forget something like giant killer robots, Logan." Buzz replied dryly.

"Didn't you guys say you found Area 51 back then?"

"Yeah, we did." Sage said, calling up a file on the computer in front of her. "I mean, it's not like they're actually hiding it or anything, but they do try to keep what actually goes on there a secret." She hit another couple of keys and the printer started working. "Buzz took it awfully personal when he couldn't hack their mainframe."

"Shut up, Sage." Buzz grumbled. "I didn't try very hard once Jazz found the Master Mold in Oz anyway."

"Look, I just need whatever you found about it, no matter how thin it is."

"Something up?"

"You could say that, but I ain't tellin' you what." Sage gathered the papers from the printer and slipped them into a folder before handing them to me. "Less you know, the better it'll be. Thanks guys."

I left the office and took the file outside to go through it while I had a smoke. I hated to think that there wouldn't be enough here to get us inside and that we'd have to go crawling back to Bennington again, but it was something I had to keep in mind. But if there's one thing that Angela, Kyro and I had been trained to do, it was find the weaknesses in any facility and exploit them to get inside and get the job done. According to these files, the base itself was between the Groom and Papoose mountain ranges in southern Nevada, right near something called Groom Dry Lake. I chuckled at the irony that it was, itself, a dried up alkali lake. It was listed as being a facility used to test aircraft for the military, but lots of people who weren't crazy UFO watchers believed it was used for a lot more than that. Thanks to Horner, I knew how true that was.

As I paged through the file, I noticed that Sage had also included a pretty detailed accounting of the mines in the surrounding mountains. She'd added some notes to the top of a couple of the maps indicating that some of the mine tunnels appeared to run fairly close to some of the underground areas in the base. She also speculated that some of the tunnels may even be used by base personnel to bring supplies into the more secret areas without any of the locals knowing about it. Very clever of her.

A shadow fell across the papers and I looked up to see Marie standing there. "Hey kid. Need somethin'?"

"Nah, not really." She replied as she sat next to me. "I heard you're goin' to Nevada."

"Yep." I put the papers back in the folder and closed it. "Not sure when, but we'll be goin'."

"I wish you'd let me help you guys out." She complained. "I got so much of you in my head, it's like they did all that shit to me too, ya know."

"Ain't quite the same thing, Marie."

"Close enough for me."

"Not for me." I turned to her and took her gloved hand in mine. "Rogue, do you have any idea at all what would happen if they got their hands on you an' figured out what you can do? One touch an' you can know all the secrets hidden in someone's head. They'd have you in chains in a heartbeat an' I ain't about to let that happen."

"Logan, I get that. But I don't have to go with you to Nevada to help."

I gave her a confused look. "Whattaya mean then?"

"Take me with you next time the three of you go out." I opened my mouth to protest but she stopped me. "Hear me out, damn it!" I cocked my head and she smiled. "I'm not sayin' I wanna go into the base with y'all, I'll stay in the jet. But if you can bring me someone from the base who might know more about this archive, well…you said it yourself, one touch an' I can know someone's every secret."

I narrowed my eyes at her, but she stared right back at me with a cocky smirk. "It'll still be dangerous, you know."

"I know. But I also know that you'll never get into that place if you can't find a quiet way in. And you know how much I hate to use my power unless it's absolutely necessary. Face it Logan, you need what I can get for you whether ya want to admit it or not."

"What is it lately with all my women bein' so damn mouthy all of a sudden?"

"Oh really? I think Angela would be very interested to hear that, dontcha think? And since when am I one of your 'women'?"

"Since that day you said I was your family." I sighed and stubbed out my cigar. "Fine, I'll talk to the others for you, but I ain't makin' any promises, understood?"

She nodded. "I get that. But I don't think the others'll be so stubborn about it."

"Yeah right." She smiled at me again and I watched as she crossed the lawn to join Remy under a tree. She greeted him with an enthusiastic kiss and I smiled for her. They'd been inseparable since that day in the Danger Room all those years ago, when they'd discovered he could touch her without risk. I'd always been glad for her because of that, although it had taken Angela a bit longer to warm up to the red-eyed Cajun. He still liked to call her "petit chat", which still annoyed her to no end, but at least she wasn't plotting to kill him anymore. That I knew of, that is. I was pretty sure there was no way we'd be able to take Marie anywhere that he wouldn't follow, unless something else came up to take him away. That was a very real possibility, what with the FOH on one side and Magneto's flunkies wreaking havoc on the other. But it might not be a bad thing if he came along; he'd protect Rogue to his dying breath.

A few hours later, I brought this up to Angela as we were getting ready for bed. It goes without saying that she wasn't thrilled with the idea. "Absolutely not. No way, she's not going."

"Darlin', I know how it sounds, but she promised not to go into the base with us."

"Logan, she's got YOU in her head. Do you really think she'll be able to stay out of it?"

"Maybe if it was just her, no. But ya know the Cajun'll wanna come along too, to protect her."

She chewed on her thumbclaw. "Hmm, maybe. If anyone could keep her in line, it'd be him." She frowned for a bit, still chewing on her claw as she went over possible contingencies in her head. "Yeah, she might be on to something here."

"You do know that you're supposed to be the sensible one here, right? I was countin' on you sayin' it was a bad idea no matter what and tellin' her she can't come along."

"I know. But I also know that she has a pretty good point. Maybe we could get more from someone with her along."

"I don't suppose I'll be able to count on Kyro to disagree with this."

"Not a chance. He's way more logical than either one of us, really. He'll want to know why we didn't try this sooner."

I sighed. "All right, fine. I'll tell Marie she can come along next time. But you get to tell Cyke."

"Scott doesn't scare me." She said, snuggling into me. I kissed the top of her head even as she started to kiss on my neck. "Now enough about work. Let's play."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It would be almost another month before we finally got around to our next objective. We went through the remaining files carefully, wanting to make sure we chose the base most likely to have the people who knew the most about the archives on staff. In the end, we chose Death Valley, partly because of its proximity to Area 51, but also because the files indicated that there was something there they just called "the testing center". If there was a place on the planet where we could expect to find the information we wanted, it would be there.

Of course, One-Eye was totally against including Marie on the jaunt. He had eventually accepted that Angela, Kyro and me were going to keep taking out Weapon X bases until there weren't any left, so he wisely kept his mouth shut when we left on one of our missions, but he was convinced that I had somehow talked Rogue into going on this one. It just didn't occur to him that she'd volunteered and he made one of the biggest mistakes of his life about a week before we were set to go. He told her she couldn't go. I had the great pleasure of witnessing this error of judgment firsthand, since he cornered her as we were coming out of the Danger Room after a training session with Gamma.

"Rogue, can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked casually.

"Sure Scott, what do ya need?" She replied as she took her hair down.

Scott glanced at me and cleared his throat. "Uh, in private?"

Marie raised an eyebrow (which looked very familiar) and crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever you have to say, you can say it with Logan here."

I smiled to myself as Scott shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around, clearly not happy with this. I just stood there, keeping my face carefully neutral. Once he realized I wasn't leaving, he sighed. "Marie, you can't go with them when they go to Death Valley." He stated.

The silence in the hallway was deafening. The moment stretched out to the point where even I was uncomfortable before she finally responded. "Excuse me?"

"As the leader of the X-Men, I'm telling you that you are not allowed to go with them when they go to Death Valley. It's bad enough that they risk themselves every time they go out, but I can't allow you to risk yourself as well."

"Who died an' made you my father?" She snapped. "In case you've forgotten, I'm an adult now. I haven't been a student here for nine years, you can't tell me what I can an' can not do."

"Marie, would you stop and think for one minute? They're going out there to kill God only knows how many people. How could you possibly want to be a part of that?"

"In case you've forgotten, _Cyclops_, I have a big chunk o' Logan in my head, not to mention Angela too. I've seen what happened to them, I felt it like it happened to me. I still have nightmares that would make your hair curl. If they can stop those people from ever doin' this shit to anyone else, I think it's my duty to help them."

"They've already failed to stop them!" Scott said, raising his voice a touch. "When they got back from Alaska they said the doctor in charge up there told them about at least four new subjects that were being bonded. So what good have they done, really?"

"Why don't you ask Hea and Jung about that?" Rogue countered and Scott at least had the humanity to look ashamed. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Didn't think about them, did you? What kinda life would they have had if the three of them hadn't found them? Where do you think they'd be right now?"

"Look, I'm not saying they haven't helped a little. But there's no way I can allow you to put yourself at risk for their little vendetta."

"Tell me somethin', Scott. If you knew for a fact that they had Jean's body in that archive, what would you do?" He swallowed hard and looked at the floor. "I know exactly what you'd do. You'd move heaven an' earth to get her back here to put her to rest an' you know it. Angela wants her little girl back. Logan wants to find this clone o' his an' try to save her. Why the hell would you want to stop me from helpin' them?"

"It's not your fight, Marie. They set out to do this on their own and they've told us over and over they don't want or need our help. Why should this time be any different?"

"Because now it's beyond personal. Logan, Angela an' Evie are my only real family an' I'll do whatever I have to do to help them an' no one's gonna stop me."

They stared each other down for another long moment before he spoke again. "You're not going. That's all I have to say about this."

"Oh yeah?" Before either Scott or I could react, she laid a perfect punch on the point of his chin and he went down like a bag of rocks. "Yes I am an' that's all _I_ have to say about it." She turned on her heel and stalked down to the locker room, leaving Scott and me alone.

"Well, I guess she told you Cyke." I said as I helped him off the floor.

"She must have learned that from you." He replied, rubbing his jaw.

"Like she said, she's got a huge chunk o' me in that pretty head o' hers. Can't blame her for doin' what comes natural."

"Just when I thought we were past all that rivalry nonsense," he grumbled.

"Oh, we are. But the me she's got in her head is from before we called a truce." I chuckled. "Lighten up, Scooter. At least she didn't kick ya in the balls." I turned and made my way to the locker room to get changed back into my regular clothes, a smile plastered on my face, and made a mental note to thank Marie later.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Five days later, we set out for Death Valley. I had been right when I assumed that Remy would insist on coming with us, to help protect Marie. Not that any of us had planned on letting her sit there completely defenseless in the first place. Marie had finally come to understand how her power worked and although she couldn't stop the imprinting from happening when someone touched her skin, she did know exactly how long to touch someone to get just what she needed. She had also learned how to reverse it to some extent, so if she absorbed someone's power, she could push it back as long as contact was never broken in between. She'd still never be able to touch anyone other than Remy safely, but at least now she had as much of a handle on her powers as she was likely to get. So, before we left the jet, Angela and I both gave Rogue as much of our powers as we could afford. I recovered much faster than Angela, but we were on our way with Kyro about twenty minutes later.

The mission went much like the others. We sneaked in, killed a bunch of people, stole a bunch of files, painted "vengeance" on a wall in some guy's blood and left again. The only difference was this time, we had a hostage. Her name was Carol Danvers and from what she told us during our initial "interrogation", she'd originally been a member of the CIA, but had been recruited into Weapon X about ten years ago as a trainer due to her expertise in infiltration. Once she'd realized what the program was all about, she'd begun to fear she'd been recruited as a subject. You see, Carol Danvers was a mutant, a fact she'd managed to keep hidden for most of her life. The part where she'd kept it hidden from the Director was a fucking miracle.

As time went on, she'd grown to believe in Weapon X's agenda, eventually becoming almost fanatical about it. Of course, she was also told that all the people being augmented were either volunteers or criminals that had been given the choice of life in prison or life in Weapon X. Maybe that was true in some cases, but I can think of at least five where it wasn't. After all, ten-year-old children aren't old enough to volunteer for something like this and if Hea and Jung had committed any crimes before we found them, I hardly think they'd have been bad enough to justify the tortures they'd been through. But from what she told us, she believed the same bullshit line they'd used back in the Bad Old Days, that Weapon X was a mutant counter-terrorist squad. Not even close.

Once we started asking about the archives, Ms. Danvers had clammed up, refusing to say even one word on the topic. Her mutation made her almost impervious to harm, though not to pain. She also had superhuman strength, probably not like Sam but certainly on par with Colossus. We went through I don't know how many restraints before Kyro found a set of adamantium cuffs that she couldn't break. Once we had those on her, we discovered yet another power; she could fly. Fortunately we were still in the main lab area and I got my hands on a tranquilizer gun and shot her back down. At least she didn't have a healing factor, or else that would have been like chucking spitballs at her. Once she was out, I hefted her over my shoulder and we took her back to the jet.

I dumped her in a heap at Rogue's feet. "Any trouble?" I asked.

"No, mon ami," Remy replied, "I tink Rogue was disappointed."

I chuckled. "Well, she did absorb me an' Angela. I'm sure she was spoilin' for a fight."

"Still am." She replied as she looked at the woman on the floor. "Any chance she'll wake up?"

"Nah, she's out pretty good. Just do your thing, darlin'. An' don't be surprised if ya get some more little gifts from her. She's a mutant."

"Nothin' I can't handle, sugah." She knelt down next to her and pulled off a glove, then took a deep breath before touching the woman's face. I expected her to pull away after a few seconds, but the look on her face went from calm to disgust to fury in that short time. Time seemed to slow down, each second lasting forever, until she finally let go. "Well I hope that keeps her down for a good long time." Rogue spat.

"What?" Angela asked in surprise. "Honey, what did you get from her?"

"Does 'Project Prodigal' mean anythin' to you guys?"

I looked at Kyro, then Angela, who had grown pale when Rogue said that. "Yeah, it does." I said.

"This bitch here was one o' the people in charge of implementing it." She looked up at me with a mixture of anger and fear in her eyes. "Logan, you can't go to the archives, not yet. It's a trap."

* * *

**AN:** Ha ha! Cliffie! Will they go to Area 51? Or will they wait until they can get in there with no trouble? Find out...later! Hehehehehehe...:) Special thanks to Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, best beta readers ever...Extra Special thanks to DBK(tm) for his unwavering support and guidance...Super Special thanks to my readers, for still reading...and Super Swanky Special thanks to my reviewers, who were levanna and theNightEnchantress...levanna: have another virtual hug...i know how hard it is right now...and as for the viciousness (or lack thereof) of our intrepid heroes, well...like i said in my notes at the beginning of Ch. 1, my characters evolved, even the ones i'm borrowing...:)

**Now for all you non-reviewing readers...please stop in and say hello! I do have anonymous reviews enabled, so don't worry about that...and if you don't want to leave a public review, feel free to send me a PM! Either way, i'd love to hear from you, even if it's just to say hello!**


	13. Interlude and Chapter 13

Interlude

_Germany. North Korea. Alaska. Now, Death Valley. If he counted Alkali Lake, Hudson Bay and the Alberta facility, his two favorite creations had destroyed nearly thirty labs and bases that were operating under the name of Weapon X. There were still plenty of active bases that they hadn't hit, but it was really only a matter of time. It was now obvious that Wolverine and Hellcat had somehow gotten the Weapon X file from that damned Bureau of Constitutional Integrity and the Director no longer had an insider there._

_He sat back in his chair, rubbing his forehead. He was very tired all of a sudden, wondering for the first time if this was all worth it. Mutants had destroyed his life, yet here he was, knee-deep in them every day of his life. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. Maybe it was time to just deploy the Sentinels and let the world burn. His second Master Mold that was hidden beneath the waters of Alkali Lake had already produced several hundred of the robots before that bastard Bennington had threatened him that day in the Oval Office. One simple voice command and it would start working again, and his most glorious project would begin eradicating the mutants once and for all._

_Of course, there were other things to consider. X-23, although only two years old at the moment, was still mentally and physically stable, a far cry from her predecessors. There was another cloning project going on as well, one the scientists in charge had dubbed "Project Phoenix", the project they'd used to perfect the cloning technology that created X-23. The Director recognized the woman they'd cloned for that project, a mutant named Dr. Jean Grey, who had apparently died at Alkali Lake. They'd found what was left of her only a few days after the loss of the base and had seen the wisdom of using her as the beta test for the cloning process, simply because there was much more of her to get DNA from. The samples they had from Wolverine were all they had and were thus not considered expendable. The clone, designated 458-25-502, code name "Phoenix", was now twelve years old and already exhibiting some incredible powers. Although not suitable for bonding, it was believed she still had the makings of an impressive operative._

_Opening his eyes, he made up his mind. Now was not the time to plow Weapon X under and salt the earth. There was still too much at stake to consider that, not the least of which was the child of Wolverine and Hellcat that the Director longed to get his hands on. If it had even a fraction of its parents' talent, it could very well be the best thing to ever happen to the project. No, Weapon X still had work to do and it was time they got to it._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 13

(Angela)

"How did they find out we were on our way to the archives?" I asked Logan later that night. "We only found out about them a fucking month ago and we didn't leave anyone alive to warn anyone!"

"I don't know, angel." He replied, sounding just as frustrated as me. "Maybe they figured it was just a matter o' time 'fore we got there an' knew that you'd stop at nothin' to get Emma back."

"Hm, maybe." I chewed on one of my claws thoughtfully. "Or maybe Alaska was a setup."

"Darlin', those things they had on ice up there were real enough. They had a skeleton crew, most o' the place was shut down 'cept the parts they were livin' in. I'm a lot more paranoid than you an' even _I_ think it was for real."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But we didn't know that they even _had_ an archive until then, much less where it was. And now we stumble on the one person who's supposed to be implementing the very program they designed just to capture us? What are the chances, really?"

"We coulda easily gone to another base. If they wanted us back so badly, they coulda gotten us in Death Valley. I can't believe she'd let herself get captured knowin' she probably wouldn't survive."

"Why not? I'd do it."

"Yeah, but you come back the next day. She's still in a coma downstairs."

"Any ideas how long she'll be out?"

He shook his head. "Hank didn't know for sure. Rogue took an awful lot outta her, said she could be out for a few weeks at least."

"What are we gonna do about her anyway?"

"Dunno. We coulda killed her after Rogue was done with her or just left her to the desert, but somethin' tells me we still need her."

"Ooh, do I get to accuse you of being psychic now?" I asked with a grin.

"You're not funny."

"Yes I am." He glared at me and I giggled. "But really, why didn't you just let me have at her?"

"Because now we have somethin' o' theirs that they'll want back. I ain't sayin' that we'll make a deal with 'em, unless they promise to jump off a cliff while we watch, but they don't know we already know everythin' she knows. So maybe they'll try to make a deal with us an' we can use that to spring a trap of our own."

"You mean like send them a message that we have her and if they want her back, we want to meet with the Director?"

"Exactly. An' when he shows up…"

"We can kill him. Cut the head off this snake once and for all."

He nodded. "Then maybe it'll just die on its own an' we can concentrate on our lives again."

I could hear the weariness in his voice and I sighed. We both knew we'd never be able to get on with our lives until this was all over and the only way to guarantee that was to get rid of the Director. From what Marie had gotten from Danvers, the man didn't entrust anything really sensitive to anyone and kept all of his important files to himself. The heads of individual projects were given the information they needed and nothing else, which meant there was very little cooperation within Weapon X's individual departments. In fact, projects were kept completely separate from one another, all the way down the pike. Only the Director knew everything.

"Logan, let's get away for a few days. Go to the cabin, recharge our batteries and just forget about all this."

He turned on his side to face me. "You sure? Evie's supposed to start her serious gift trainin' this week."

"I know. But Hank even said that it might be best if we weren't here for the beginnings of that. He said that 'being a parent is not helpful when one is learning the nuances of their gifts'." Logan gave me the sexy eyebrow trick and snorted. "Seriously, he said that! And I guess I can understand, since we'd be inclined to let her slide on some things, but Charles and Ororo? Not a chance."

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, and I heard him inhale deeply when he did so. He told me he liked to breathe in my scent, that it made him feel calm, so I didn't think anything of it. He pulled back a moment later with a mischievous gleam in his eye. "Ok, let's do it. I have a feelin' these will be four very productive days."

I looked at him in confusion, then did a little math in my head and rolled my eyes. "I'm fertile and you can smell it, can't you?"

"What can I say? The Wolverine wants a pack."

"Yeah, but the Wolverine isn't the one that has to produce it." He chuckled and kissed me softly. "Well then, what do you say about getting started right now?"

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We did take off for a few days, five to be exact, and when we returned, the mansion was buzzing. First and foremost was news about Rogue. Unlike when she'd all but drained Logan on Liberty Island (ok, that was _his_ doing, but still), the powers she'd absorbed from Carol Danvers still hadn't faded in the least. In fact, she was learning how to control them as though they were her own. The Professor and Hank had no idea why the powers weren't fading, but Hank had a theory that it had to do with Rogue's own power progressing. He didn't know if she'd ever gain perfect control over it, but it now seemed that if she tried hard enough, she could absorb someone's power completely if she wanted to. We wouldn't know for certain if and until Danvers woke up, but it certainly seemed that Rogue was now more powerful than ever and it looked to stay that way.

The next bit of news had been overshadowed by Marie's revelations; our daughter, at the tender age of eight, had successfully made her first steps in controlling her own power of precognition. Of course, since Charles could just go into her head and show her what she needed to do directly, it made it that much easier. We'd still considered having him block them temporarily, but in the end Evie didn't want that. She'd told us, with a gravity far beyond her years, that knowing what was going to happen before it happened was too important to take it away. Now that she had a better understanding of how it worked, she could actually access it at will, although she couldn't see very far that way. For now, she could only see about ten minutes into the future, but as we all know a few _seconds_ can make a huge difference, so ten minutes was fantastic. The Professor assured us that as she got older, her "range" would increase as well, which could give us more than enough time to plan and try to avoid the things she saw if needed or to assist if that was the correct choice. Of course, none of this affected her prophetic dreams, which Charles said could occur at any time and have any possible range.

Last, but not least, was something that came as no surprise to most of us. Sam popped the question to Storm, who had readily accepted and the school stood under the most amazing sunny skies for the time of year. To say everyone was thrilled is an understatement. The last big thing the girls got to go crazy over had been me while I was pregnant, but now there was a wedding to plan and they threw themselves into it wholeheartedly. Jubilee was back from college with an actual teaching degree, so she became the self-appointed wedding planner and tried to recruit every female over the age of twelve to assist her. Fortunately, she knew better than to ask me about it. I had never felt a need to marry Logan and even though I understood the joy that permeated the mansion after the happy news, I also didn't want to be in on the planning stages. The decision was taken out of my hands when Ororo asked me to be her maid of honor.

"Excuse me?" I said, caught completely off guard by the question.

"I want you to be my maid of honor." She replied simply.

"Uh, no offense Storm but, why me? Wouldn't Rogue or Jubilee be a better choice?"

She laughed. "It's true, I've known them longer. But you have become such an important part of all our lives and I can't think of anyone else I'd want to stand up for me."

I doubted that. I knew she'd rather have Jean up there with her, but that just wasn't possible. I sighed and gave her a smile. "Well, since you put it _that_ way, how can I say no?"

She hugged me impulsively, then flitted off to teach her history class. I just shook my head and made my way to the Danger Room to oversee Delta team on a session. Ninety minutes later, after a quick shower, change of clothes and a quick bite of lunch, it was off to the strategy class with Beta team. Life had more or less returned to normal, for the time being.

A week later, we discovered that our mini-vacation hadn't produced another cub for Logan's pack and I was secretly kind of glad about that. I didn't want to risk missing out on finishing off the Weapon X bases, letting Logan and Kyro have all the fun without me. Logan was obviously disappointed, but cheered up when I pointed out that this meant we got to keep trying, over and over if we had to. I shivered at the grin he gave me, feral and sexy. Gods above, I love that man.

So it was that we settled back into our routine of classes, Danger Room, time with Evie and planning our assault on Weapon X. Leave it to humans to ruin a good thing.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Beta team, fall back!" Scott shouted into the com. "Circle around behind them and re-engage!"

"Copy Alpha leader!" Cannonball replied.

Our recent agreement with the various law enforcement agencies was finally being put to the test. A chapter of the Friends of Humanity near Atlanta had discovered a rarity amongst mutantkind – an entire family. Mom, Dad and two kids aged seventeen and fourteen, all mutants. Mom and Dad (Grace and Michael Sheridan) were both mildly telepathic, but Grace could also stick to walls whereas Michael had a chameleon-like ability to blend with his surroundings. The kids, Danny and Heather, had inherited the mild telepathy, but Danny had some limited flight powers (short bursts only) and Heather could paint without the help of brushes – or paint for that matter. So, as far as mutations go, they weren't really that powerful. The kids had been home schooled since the age of thirteen, specifically to keep them out of the public eye, their house was in a fairly rural area and the parents had a home-based internet business selling homemade candles and essential oils, so how the FOH found them in the first place was only the first problem.

The second problem was the local law enforcement. They'd received the memo through the union detailing our new agreement, but they'd waited until the Sheridans were under full attack before calling us in. By then, their house was surrounded by about fifty FOH members and nearly the same number of sympathizers who hadn't actually thrown their hats in. By the time we got there, the police had set up a perimeter and were attempting to get the FOH to surrender, but Scott, Logan, Storm, Rogue and I all suspected that more than a few of the cops were either FOH or sympathizers anyway. The house was under heavy fire and none of the officers had even tried to fire a single shot to warn them off. As soon as we got there, the Sheriff and two of his lieutenants moseyed over to talk to us. Thirty seconds later, one of the FOH guys took a pot shot at Logan and all bets were off.

Which leads me to where we are now. We hadn't brought all of Alpha with us, just the core groups of Cyclops, Storm, Logan, Rogue and myself for Alpha One, with Nightcrawler, Angel, Gambit, Iceman and Echo for Alpha Two. Beta team consisted of Cannonball, Polaris, Wind Dancer, Wolfsbane, Magma and Rictor. Polaris was using her magnetic powers to shield her team from the bullets, but that was only effective so long as they stayed within about twenty feet of her. Our original plan had been to have Kurt teleport in to retrieve the family one at time and have them wait for us in safety in Blackbird Two. In the meantime, the rest of us would secure the perimeter to prevent any of the people involved in the attack from escaping. We were in the process of explaining that to the Sheriff when Logan got shot high in his right shoulder. I let out a gasp of shock just as he growled and popped his claws. Before Scott could stop him, he shot across the field towards the knot of men and women who stood there with their guns pointed in our general direction. Only quick thinking on Polaris' part had prevented another one of us winding up with a bullet wound.

"Fuck! Cyclops, plan B!" I shouted as I slid my own claws out and took off after Logan. I could hear more shots ringing through the air and I winced as though they were hitting me.

"Hellcat, we don't _have_ a plan B!" He retorted over the com. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Unless you want a body count, someone's gotta get in there and disable these assholes before Wolverine gets too many of 'em!"

I heard him curse under his breath, then I didn't have time to think. Logan had already reached the group, but they'd shot him up pretty bad by the time I got there. His suit was riddled with holes, the special material they were made out of, tough as it is, is still not able to withstand certain kinds of bullets, mostly high caliber and Teflon-jacketed rounds. These idiots seemed to have both. Still, as riddled with holes as he was, he was on his feet and swinging with his claws, cutting through their weapons like they were made of paper. At least one man was down with a missing hand and another lay near him, unmoving. Another shot struck him square in the chest as I came up next to him, fired from the rifle held in the hands of a woman with stringy blond hair, hatred blazing in her eyes. He grunted as he flew through the air to land on his back with a thud that was audible over the sounds of combat all around us.

I narrowed my eyes and hissed. "Bitch, that was the last mistake you'll ever make!" I shouted as my inner animal took control. I did my best to hold it back enough to not kill her, but I wouldn't know until much later how successful I was at the attempt. All I knew at that moment was that she'd hurt my mate and she was going to pay for that. She fumbled with the bolt on her gun, trying to chamber another round as I fell upon her, swiping at her face with my left as I made contact with her torso with the right. Her jacket and the shirt underneath shredded and five long gashes appeared, spraying blood everywhere. I managed to pull back enough that they weren't fatal wounds, but she would carry those scars for life. I lashed out again, with my fists this time and she fell like a stone beneath my adamantium strikes.

Logan was back on his feet, surrounded by five of the FOH bastards who didn't know what they were up against. I used the back of the one nearest me as a springboard, raking my toe claws down his back as I leapt over his head. He screamed in agony and I spun around to face him, stripping the weapon from his hands before he could bring it to bear on me. I whipped him across the face with the butt of his rifle and he was out like a light. I took a few precious seconds ejecting the remaining ammo from the weapon before casting it aside to face the rest of the assailants.

"Look, the animal's got a little girl to help him," one of them jeered. "Ain't even got enough sense to keep her weapon."

"Moron, we _are_ the weapons." I snarled as I lashed at his face with my right. He didn't pull back fast enough and one of my claws caught his left eye and removed it neatly from the socket. I flicked it away casually and kicked him the gut, causing him to double over. Grabbing the back of his head, I brought my knee up into his face and felt his nose break with a most satisfying crunch. I cast him aside, unconscious and turned to find another person to fight.

Logan had the other three well in hand, his claws finally sheathed. As I turned, a guy roughly the size of a mountain and built just as solidly managed to land a punch to Logan's solar plexus, knocking all the air out of him and bringing him to one knee. But Logan wasn't down for long. Big Guy kicked forward with enough force to have broken Logan's nose had he actually connected, but his satisfaction turned to shock when Logan grabbed his foot and brought his elbow straight down on Big Guy's knee. Big Guy screamed in agony and Logan's fist flashed forward, right into Big Guy's balls. He went down without another whimper and I smiled. If nothing else, there was one less bigot able to reproduce in the world.

That left two, one for each of us, and we turned slowly to face them. One of them actually showed a little bit of sense as he dropped his weapon to the ground and put his hands up. "Hey man, I don't want no trouble!" He cried, his voice shaking.

"Sure coulda fooled me, bub." Logan snarled. "You came here to kill a family, asshole, people who never did nothin' to you."

I heard the sound of a gun cocking and looked up into the barrel of one of the biggest revolvers I've ever seen. "You muties are ruinin' the country." He said. "One of you tried to kill the President!"

At the mention of that bastard, it took everything in my being not to go completely feral. "There's plenty of bad normal people too, or did you forget people like Charles Manson? Ted Bundy? Son of Sam? How about Lee Harvey Oswald? That chick who drowned all five of her kids?" I stared down the barrel of that gun and looked the man in the eye, his resolve seeming to waver. "Yeah, you think you guys are so much better, but you're not. Sure, we have powers you don't. You've shot Wolverine how many times now and he's still standing. I've got claws and I can hear your heart beating in your chest, but I'm still just woman with a little girl waiting for me at home. And in case you've forgotten, Magneto _tried_ to kill the President. That man next to me? He went in and helped _save_ him."

"Shut up!" The man shouted, his hand shaking. "Stupid bitch, stop tryin' to confuse me!"

"Confuse you?" Logan said and I spared a glance at him. The man who'd dropped his weapon was already on the ground, wrists firmly bound with his own shirt. "Bub, the lady's makin' more sense than you an' your buddies here."

"We're not saying we're _better_ than humans, just _different,_" I said. "If any of you would use your fucking heads, you'd see that we've been doing our best to protect you from those of our own kind who want to hurt you." The barrel of the gun dipped a little. "But you FOH assholes would rather take a page from Hitler's Handbook and that puts us in a very difficult position. We don't want to hurt you, but we'll protect ourselves and our own if we have to. So what's it gonna be? You wanna give up and have a chance at getting out of this or do you want to end up like your friends over there?"

He lowered his gun and appeared to be thinking about it, but I heard a sudden commotion in the woods behind us. I turned around and about seventy more people with guns and knives broke through the trees. The man in front of me smiled and raised the gun again. "I'll take my chances," he said and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit me between the eyes, which would have killed a normal person, but I'm not normal. I flew off my feet and back about thirty feet before landing hard on the ground. The last things I heard before I passed out were the agonized screams of the man who shot me and Cannonball saying "Copy Alpha leader" over the com.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I woke up a few hours later in the infirmary, the bright lights stabbing into my already agonized brain. Sure, my adamantium skull stopped the bullet, but it didn't change the fact that getting shot in the head causes one wicked migraine. I quickly closed my eyes, groaning and I heard rapid shuffling, followed by the warm feeling of Hank's furry hand on my forehead. "How are you feeling, my dear?" He whispered, but it sounded like he was shouting to me.

"Ugh. I'd be a lot better if you weren't so loud." I replied.

"Ah, almost back to normal I see. Good. Logan's been worried sick about you."

"I'll bet." I chanced opening my eyes again and the pain seemed a little less. "How is he?"

"He's fine, although from what I understand, the other guy won't be nearly as well."

"He didn't kill anyone, did he?"

Hank frowned. "No one that didn't try to kill him first. Or you, for that matter. The local authorities tried to detain him for his, um, enthusiasm in handling the situation, but were unable to do so since they _had_ shot the both of you."

I sighed in relief. "How are the Sheridans? Did they get out ok?"

"Yes, they're all just fine and they'll be staying here for a little while until Charles can find them another place to stay."

"Why don't they just stay here? They'd be more than welcome, you know that."

"Yes, they would be. However, I think they prefer their solitary life. Although their children are already liking the atmosphere here. I don't think they've had much contact with others their own age."

"Think their parents will at least let them stay? Neither of them are particularly X-Man material, so it's not like we'll try and convince them to join the team."

"I honestly don't know, though I do agree that it would be good for them to be amongst their peers." He busied himself checking my vitals, then patted me on the hand. "I'm going to ask that you stay here at least long enough for your headache to go away. In the meantime, I believe you have a couple people waiting for you outside who are eager to see you."

I smiled and he patted my hand again before walking away. A moment later, I heard the door open and Evie came running over to me. "Mommy! Are you ok?"

I winced a little at the shrill sound of her voice, but smiled all the same. "Yes, Mommy's just fine. Just have a little headache is all."

Logan came up behind her and sat down in a chair next to me, gathering Evie into his lap. "Daddy said that you were bein' heroes an' some bad guys tried to hurt you an' you got knocked out."

He smiled at me over the top of her head with a wink. "Well, it's true right?" He asked.

"Yep, absolutely true. But the bad guys got arrested and we won't have to worry about them anymore."

"Good. I hate the bad guys. I keep seein' them doin' all these bad things in my head an' it makes me mad that I'm too little to do anythin' about it."

Logan and I exchanged a significant look. "What do you mean, sweetie?"

"You know, the bad men. If I think about them, I can see what they're doin' sometimes. Like I keep seein' these bad men that are kinda like army men, except they're not. An' they look all over the place for mutants to take away and they sometimes do things to them, like what Daddy has."

"Like my claws you mean?" He asked and she nodded. "Anythin' else?"

"Yeah, but you already know the part where they come here an' try to take me away, I told you that part a long long time ago." She sighed and settled back against Logan's chest. "I wish I was big like you guys so I could go help fight them with you."

I reached over and took her hand. "Sweetheart, there's no way to be sure that you'll be able to do that. Maybe seeing the future is the only thing you can do and if that's so, then it's best to keep you safe here and out of danger. Your gift is too rare to risk."

"I know Mommy, we've talked about all that. But I still wanna help."

"You'll help us a lot as long as you stay safe." I sat up carefully, my head still hurting but I really didn't want to be in the infirmary anymore. "Come on, let's go back to our own rooms. I'll get better a lot faster up there." I leaned on Logan while Evie took my other hand and we want back to our own rooms. We tucked our daughter into bed then I settled down in the bed next to Logan. He wrapped his arms around me and I sighed. "Logan, she still sees the same men invading the school and coming after her. It hasn't stopped, with everything we've done that's still going to happen."

"I know darlin'," he replied. "We've been doin' all we can to stop it."

"Then we have to do more!" I cried. "We'll have to hit more bases more often, stop waiting so long in between. We'll hit them hard…"

"Angela, listen to me." He said, looking at me intently. "I don't disagree with anythin' you're sayin'. But we don't wanna do more, we wanna do better."

"How can we do anything better than we already do? We're already the best."

"I don't know, tiger. But we'll find a way."

* * *

**AN:** Ah, the plot thickens...hehehehe...just so you all know, i'm also posting a one-shot that takes place during Logan and Angela's mini-vacation...it was inspired by a conversation that i had over IM with Dee (MidLifeCrisis) and although it was a little different in its original state, it reworked it so that it fit better with this story...so make sure you check that out, too...:) Special thanks to Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, my most excellent beta readers...Extra Special thanks to DBK(tm) for his undying support...Super Special thanks to my readers, just for reading...and Super Swanky Special thanks to my reviewers, who were Ineluctability, theNightEnchantress and levanna...Inelcutability: You're pretty rockin' yourself, girl! theNightEnchantress: thanks for the review! levanna: Well, Logan and Angela wanted to keep everyone else out of it as much as they could, because they truly believe the fight is theirs (and Kyro's) alone...but you haven't seen the last of her, mark my words!

**Now is the chance for all of you who haven't reviewed to do it! Just click the little button and say hello! And in return, i'll post a new chapter as soon as i get the review...what are you waiting for??**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

(Logan)

The FOH incident in Atlanta made the national news, although none of the X-Men or our jets were ever shown. But the world knew that if there were mutants involved in any way, we were there, so Xavier wound up fielding a number of calls from various press agencies. He finally released a statement to the networks that basically said we were there to pull out a mutant family that had been under siege, that there were injuries on both sides and that all the involved parties were expected to make complete recoveries. A few days later, a couple of the FOH idiots attempted to sue the Professor, the X-Men and me for damages, pain and suffering, the whole nine yards, but once it was pointed out that they'd shot us first and we were merely defending ourselves and the Sheridan family from harm, the suits magically disappeared. I don't know if he had any direct influence over that decision, but I wasn't about to complain. I didn't technically have two pennies to rub together, so suing me was a useless thing to do, but I had a feeling that Angela would have drained her many bank accounts to get me out of it if she had to.

The thing that had me the most worried was the part where Evie was starting to see more things that the Weapon X people were doing before they happened. She told us that they weren't dreams, they were things she saw while she was awake, but Xavier kept insisting that her effective "range" was no more than ten or fifteen minutes. If that was true, then even if she told us about another mutant in danger from Weapon X, there wouldn't be enough time to get to them to prevent it from happening. That pissed me off beyond all reason, knowing they were snatching up people left and right and there was nothing I could do about it. We'd been hitting bases for seven years now, had taken out upwards of thirty of them and still they were active, torturing and mutilating God only knows how many people. We had no idea how many people they'd taken since we escaped, but even if it was only one a month since we'd left, that was over two hundred people in the past twenty-three years, more than enough to consider them a virtual army. If only a quarter of them were feral like me, that made them an unstoppable army. That thought was enough to give me chills and I don't scare easily.

But life still had to go on, even if there were things I couldn't control. Piotr and Kitty came back from college, both of them with degrees they could have used for anything in the real world, but they chose to come back to us to teach and rejoin the team. Everyone was thrilled to have them back, especially Rogue and Jubilee who had missed Kitty terribly. Now that the three of them were back together, Storm had all the women she would need for her wedding. It didn't surprise anyone that Sam asked Scott to be his best man, but it came as a huge shock to me that he asked me to be one of the groomsmen. I really wanted to say no, because it meant that I would have to do something I had never done in all of my long life. I would have to wear a tuxedo.

Angela was tickled pink by the idea, not to mention Rogue, Storm and the other women. I had tried very hard over the years to avoid anything that would require me to wear something that wasn't a t-shirt and jeans. I still hated the X-Men uniforms, even if I understood the reasons behind them. But the thought of putting on a suit or anything fancier made me want to run and hide in a cave very far away for the next century or so. But the women had other ideas. I had told Sam I would think about it and get back to him in a day or two, which was their cue to harass me until I agreed. What they all forgot was that the Wolverine has an unbreakable will when his mind is made up. Somehow, I forgot that the Hellcat was _almost_ more stubborn that I was.

"Logan, you have to do it." She stated plainly after dinner that night.

"Darlin', I don't have to do anythin' 'cept die an' pay taxes an' so far, I've managed to avoid both for a really long time."

"Look, if I have to walk down the aisle wearing a fluffy pink dress, the very least you can do is suffer with me."

"No, the very least I could do is come up with some reason why we both can't do it an' make sure we're not there at all."

"I can't do that, Logan. I promised Storm and there is no way you are going to make me break my word." She crossed her arms and started tapping her foot. "Come on, I know you respect Sam and it's an honor to stand up for him."

"I am not wearin' a tux and that's all there is to it."

She glared at me and her lips thinned to a pale line. "Fine, you don't want to wear a tux, I don't want to wear a fluffy pink dress. But these people are our friends and they want us to share in this with them. So you go over there right now and tell Sam you'll stand up for him."

"Angela, I don't think you've been listenin'." I finished off the last of my brandy. "I. Am. Not. Wearin'. A. Fuckin'. Tuxedo. Period."

"You know he'd do it for you if we had a wedding."

I narrowed my eyes. "What are you sayin'?"

"I'm saying that I've never asked you to marry me because I don't need to be married to know that you're mine forever. I know you've never asked me for the same reason. But if the only reason _you've_ held back is an irrational fear of formal wear, then I might suddenly feel a strong need to have a wedding."

"You wouldn't."

She leaned forward and gave me a hard look. "Try me. And believe me, I'll pull out all the stops. Money is no object. We're talking white tux, top hat and tails all the way." She sauntered over and smiled, but it was more vicious than amused. "I might even insist on gloves and a cane."

I glared at her but she was naturally not fazed in the least. "I'm gonna look like an asshole."

"And I'm going to look like a birthday cake. But these are people we love and they want us to be a part of it. Besides, I already know that Storm's planning on putting you in a very tasteful tuxedo. You'll like it. Hell, it's even black."

"You don't play fair, you know that right?"

"I know. Now go before I announce our engagement."

I sighed, knowing when I was beat. "You know that Rogue's gonna be disappointed that she didn't get to pick on me longer."

"She'll live. Now go tell him yes."

I shook my head, but went over and told Sam I'd be in his wedding. But there was one thing Angela was wrong about. It wasn't fear of formal wear that kept me from proposing to her. It was that I knew she didn't want or need to marry me, something we'd talked about dozens of times over the past nine years. She didn't know that if I had my way, I'd have taken her down the aisle in a heartbeat. It didn't bother me that we weren't married and I wasn't going to force it on her as long as she didn't ask for it. But if she ever changed her mind, I'd do it with a smile.

But there's no way I'm wearing a fucking top hat.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few days later, Carol Danvers gave up her battle and finally died. Hank had told us that she was showing signs of organ failure, which was a shame. I don't know what happened to her while she was working for Weapon X and I never asked Rogue, but by the time we found her, she was firmly in the grip of the project and believed in what they were doing. Xavier had been trying since we brought her back to find any relatives, but none of the Danvers that he contacted would admit to being related to her. So, being the nice guy that he is, he paid for all of her burial arrangements and had her taken to a cemetery in Westchester. I have no idea if anyone from Weapon X ever tried to find her, but they had to know by now that her body had never been found in Death Valley. Either way, we had lost a very important bargaining chip and we were back to square one in getting close to the Director.

Rogue on the other hand was still enjoying the powers she'd gotten from Danvers. Not only could she fly now, but she was almost invulnerable to injury (adamantium still got through just fine) and was now almost as strong as Sam and Colossus. When told that Danvers had finally slipped away, she didn't waste any time feeling bad about it. In fact, her only comment was "couldn't have happened to a better person" before she continued on her way to teach her history class. I just shrugged and went on to strategy. I happened to agree with her, but that's not the kind of thing I could talk about to anyone besides her, Angela, Kyro and Remy. The others simply wouldn't understand.

The whole thing reminded me of something that Magneto had said years before, that mutants who stood against other mutants were betraying their own kind. Now, I don't happen to agree with him, since I don't think that anyone has the right terrorize other people, mutant or otherwise, for their own personal gain. But what Danvers had been doing, along with the telepaths that still worked with Weapon X was above and beyond terrorism. Those people were taking part in the wholesale torture of who knows how many mutants over the years, not to mention how many had died at their hands. I may never agree with Magneto's methods or his wish to dominate normal humans, but I can and do understand his position. I don't want to rule the world, I just want to eliminate the people who mutilated me, my woman and my friend Kyro.

So it was with this in mind that we started planning our next assault. Danvers had given us a wealth of information, more than just the fact that the archives were a trap and that getting in there was not going to be easy. In fact, she was one of the only people who had actually met the Director in person. She didn't know the location of his personal bunker, only that it had taken about seven hours to get there by helicopter, which conveniently had no windows. They had landed at night on top of a building and nothing about the surrounding terrain stood out. The weather had been cool but not cold, but on the other hand they had met in late spring so she could have been anywhere in the northern half of the United States or the southern part of Canada. At least we knew he had to be in North America, since there was no way she could have gotten anywhere else in the world from Death Valley in seven hours by chopper. There was also the possibility that they'd simply flown back and forth for a while and set down again within minutes of the Death Valley base. But since she wasn't familiar with military equipment, she hadn't known what kind of helicopter she was on, how fast it had traveled or how far. So we had no choice but to have Sage run the numbers on every possible chopper, which only narrowed it down to about ten places they could have gone and there was no guarantee that any of them were the current location of the Director. Still, we had to try.

So we decided to take them all out one by one over the next ten weeks. Angela had been right about that; we'd been giving them too much time in between attacks to prepare for us, letting them move things out to other locations or setting up some kind of defense. It was our hope that by hitting one a week for the next couple of months would give us the upper hand for a change, hit them so fast that they wouldn't have time to put anything into place to try and stop us.

Which is how we found ourselves surrounded by pine forest and snow in the wilds of North Dakota in the middle of January. This base followed the lead of the NORAD facility in Colorado, in that it was located inside a hollowed-out mountain. We found a way in through the ventilation system, which isn't our favorite way to get inside a place but when the entire base is inside a mass of rock, the choices are a bit limited. But at least we came out inside an air recycling facility instead of dropping down in the middle of a lab, which still allowed us to use stealth to infiltrate the base proper. It was a tactic that was unlike our other missions, where we'd used stealth to get within striking distance, but more or less went for a frontal assault once we'd gotten there. This time, we used stealth to get in and they had no idea what hit them when we popped out of that air recycler and started killing people.

The base was massive, at least six levels, only two of which were used for barracks. The rest were laboratories, testing facilities and cells that had every sign of being used to house mutants. Many of the cells had everything from burn marks to dents in the steel walls, some even had names scratched into the walls with hash marks to indicate how long they'd been there. At least four dozen cells had had occupants as recently as six months ago, the rest had been empty for over a year. All told, there were about ninety cells and each of them had been occupied at least once. However, once we got there they were all empty.

The only thing that meant to us was there was no one we had to worry about saving. Every person we met in there would be fair game, no one needed to be spared. Everyone from maintenance personnel to the Colonel in charge of the facility fell to us, less than a quarter of them even aware of who we were. This told us two very important things. One, that the higher ups were keeping our vendetta to themselves, telling only those people they felt needed to know. Two, that our existence as Weapon X operatives was no longer open knowledge. At least ten of the people we killed said variations of "we thought you were dead" before they died. Finally, after four bloody and fun-filled hours, we left our calling card on the front doors to the base and started back towards the jet.

It wouldn't be until later that I remembered the nightmare Evie'd had so long ago. Not until after we were away from the base on our way back to the jet. We were crossing through a clearing where we'd taken out a couple of sentries, the snow stained crimson and frozen glassy in some places. The wind was blowing, howling through the trees, so none of us heard anything to warn us except for the snapping of a twig followed by a single shot. The bullet hit Angela in her back, the exit wound exploding out the front of the left side of her chest. Her eyes went wide with shock and she pitched forward into my arms. In the meantime, Kyro went after the shooter and from the screams I heard, he found him. I smoothed Angela's hair away from her forehead and she smiled up at me. Even though I know for a fact that my woman will come back the next day, watching her die is never an easy thing. Deep down, I'm always afraid that _this_ time is the time her mutation fails her and she won't come back. I leaned over and kissed her softly and with a sigh, she died.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hank, we can't let Evie see her like this." I said, looking down at where my woman lay, waiting to come back. "She'll flip out."

"Logan, she has a right to know about her mother's mutations." Hank replied mildly. "I know you've tried to keep it from her to avoid frightening her, but perhaps she's old enough now to know how it works."

"Doc, she's only eight years old. There's no way in hell I would have understood somethin' like that when I was eight."

"Your daughter has already shown us that she's wise beyond her years, probably due at least in part to her mutation. I cannot begin to imagine what it's like to see things before they happen, even only by a few minutes. But it gives her a unique perspective on the world and it's altogether possible that she's already seen this."

His words echoed in through my head and I sat down heavily in the chair next to Angela's bed. "Holy shit, Blue, you're right. She _has_ seen this before, just before school started this year." I held my head in my hands. "I am such a fuckin' _idiot_!"

"Logan, don't be so hard on yourself. You can't be expected to remember everything that everyone says to you and that includes your daughter."

"This wasn't just anythin', Hank. She dreamed what happened to Angela, right down to the blood on the snow! I shoulda remembered an' none o' this woulda happened!"

"You don't know that for certain, Logan. We don't know how much we can change what she sees. It may be that some things are just meant to happen."

"Sorry Doc, I don't believe in fate or destiny or any o' that other bullshit."

"And yet you are hopelessly in love with a woman who believes in all of that and more." He shook his head. "A woman who also believes she can change the future her daughter sees. Perhaps tomorrow when she is back among the living, you can talk to her about these things. In the meantime, I suggest you explain to your daughter that her mother will be coming back."

I scowled at him, but left the infirmary to retrieve my little angel from her Aunt Marie and Uncle Remy. She was awake and waiting for me, having heard the jet as it came in to land. She ran across the room and threw herself into my arms, covering my face with kisses. I couldn't help but smile and I kissed her back before putting her down. Naturally, her first question was "Where's Mommy?"

"Uh, Mommy got hurt on the mission an' she's downstairs with Uncle Hank gettin' better." I replied. "Why don't you go put your stuff in your room an' we'll go see her, ok?"

"Sure Daddy, be right back!"

I watched as she dashed down the hall and I turned to Marie. She looked into my eyes and didn't hesitate a moment. "Logan, what happened?"

"It's Angela. She got shot real bad. She's dead, for now." I sighed and sat down. "I know she'll be back tomorrow, but Evie doesn't. We never told her about that, hoped we'd never have to til she was older."

"Oh Logan, I'm so sorry." She said and gave me a quick hug. "Do ya want me to come with you when you take her down?"

"Yeah, I do. You've got Angela in your head, it might be easier for you to explain it to her."

Marie nodded and a few minutes later, Evie came bounding back down the hall, Bosko the Monkey clutched in her arms. "He always makes me feel better, so maybe Mommy'll like him." I swallowed hard and nodded in agreement, then took her hand and led her to the elevator with Marie close behind. I still didn't want to do this, I didn't know how she'd react, but it couldn't be good. I'd seen it happen about half a dozen times now and I still didn't like it, and I knew full well it wasn't permanent. I couldn't imagine what it would be like for my little girl.

The elevator door slid open and we made our way slowly to the infirmary. Before opening the door, I got down on my knee and pulled Evie close. "Princess, you need to know that Mommy was hurt kinda bad tonight, ok? So don't be upset if she don't talk to you."

"Ok Daddy." She replied and hugged her monkey tighter. "I just wanna see her." I gave her quick kiss on the forehead and stood up. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and led her into the infirmary. We took two steps and Evie stopped short, her grip tightening on my hand. Marie slid her hand into mine on the other side and gave it a gentle squeeze of support, which I hadn't realized I needed until that moment. A heartbeat later, Evie took another step forward. "Daddy, Mommy isn't breathing." She whispered.

"Yeah, I know." I replied quietly. I knelt down next to her and tried to pull her close, but she shrugged me off and my heart clenched in my chest. "Sweetheart, it's ok. See, Mommy's got another mutation we didn't tell you 'bout before."

"Is Mommy dead?" She was shaking and I could smell her anxiety rising, but it was too late to try and fib my way outta this one.

"Yeah, princess, she is. But that's her other mutation, ok? She always comes back. It takes a day, but she comes back."

"You told me she was just hurt. Why did you tell me that if she's dead?"

"Evie honey, it's not that easy." Rogue said, kneeling down with us. Evie turned and looked at her, tears brimming in her eyes. "You know how your mama's kinda like a cat?" Evie nodded gravely. "Well, cats have nine lives, you know and so does your mama. She let me borrow her powers before an' I never got that far with them, but I know what it's like for her right now from her memories. Right now, she's kinda waitin' for her body to repair the hurts so she can come back to us. She can't see us or hear us, but she knows we're here an' she'll be back again tomorrow night, I promise."

Evie's eyes got wide and she lost her battle with her tears. "Really and truly?"

"Really and truly." Marie promised. "But if you wanna talk to her right now, I'm sure she'd like that, right Logan?"

"Of course, princess," I said. "She'd like that a lot."

"Daddy, why didn't you tell me before?"

I ran my hand nervously through my hair. "Well, we were hopin' it wouldn't come up til you were older." Much older. Like thirty. "We're real careful when we go out, but sometimes accidents happen an' well…we just didn't wanna scare you. I'm sorry baby, we shoulda told you."

She stared at me for a long moment and I held my breath, knowing this could go very badly. But she sighed, wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a hard squeeze. "It's ok Daddy." I hugged her back and we stayed like that for a long moment. I absently noted Marie squeezing my shoulder and leaving the two of us alone with Angela. After a few minutes, Evie pulled back to look at me. "Can I go talk to her?"

"Sure princess, if you want to." I kissed her cheek and she walked over to the table where Angela lay waiting to come back. She settled herself into the chair next to her and tucked Bosko under Angela's arm, then took her hand and closed her eyes.

She sat there in silence for a long time, long enough that Hank came out to check on us. "Logan, what is she doing?"

"No idea." I replied. "She said she wanted to talk to her but she's just sittin' there."

We watched her for a few more minutes and as I was about to go over and take her to bed, she started talking in an almost dreamy voice. "She's still in there, you know, just waitin' to come back. It's why she don't believe in heaven, cuz she knows what comes after, at least for her. An' she's hopin' that I'm not mad at Daddy for not keepin' her safe and lettin' me see her like this an' that I'm not mad at her for not tellin' me sooner." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "She's mad at herself for not knowin' that guy was there, that she didn't hear somethin' or see somethin'. An' when the bullet hit her, it hurt so much but she was hurtin' more cuz she was afraid of hurtin' me. She wanted to tell Daddy not to show me, but it was over too fast an' all she could do was smile."

She took another deep breath and opened her eyes. "Mommy's gonna be ok." She said, then her eyes fluttered closed and she pitched forward in the chair. I made it just in time to catch her before she hit the floor and set her gently on the table next to Angela's. Hank shifted me aside and busied himself checking her pulse, her pupils and whatever else it was he had to do.

After a few minutes, he looked at me and smiled. "It's all right, she's just fainted. She should come around in a few minutes." He pulled me away a bit and lowered his voice. "Now what in hell was she doing?"

"I have no idea, she's never done anythin' like that before that I know of," I replied. "But it's like she saw everythin' that happened." I looked over to my two most precious things. "Could it be part of her mutation?"

"Unknown. I don't know many precogs, they're rare enough as it is, but that wouldn't explain how she knew what happened to Angela or what's happening with her now. Unless…" He trailed off and looked at Evie.

"Unless what?" He didn't answer me, he just stood there and tapped his lip thoughtfully. "Hank, unless what?"

"It never occurred to me until now, but when we were first testing her powers over those few days you and Angela took your mini-vacation, it seemed that the worked better when she was holding or touching something. It's possible that we have them all wrong and she's not really a precog at all, or at least not primarily."

"Whattaya talkin' about? She's had all those dreams that came true, sent them to Angela while she was pregnant for fuck's sake."

"I understand that Logan, but it doesn't change the fact that her powers work better through touch." He crossed his arms and looked at me intently. "Have you ever heard the term 'psychometry'?" I shook my head. "It's a power related to clairvoyance and precognition in that it allows the mutant to gain information through their extra sense. However, psychometry works a bit differently. Whenever they touch something, if they focus, they can tell you things about the past, present OR future that are directly related to the object or person. I'm not saying that Evie doesn't have precognition in addition to other powers, but we may have been wrong all along about how her powers actually work."

"So you're sayin' that she can see the future on its own, but if she touches somethin' she can see everythin'?"

"I don't know about that, but yes I believe with the proper training she'll be able to do just that. And not just objects but people too."

The first thing that came to mind was Rogue, cut off from human contact until Remy came along. Was my little girl going to have to wear gloves to keep her from seeing things she didn't want to see? Or was it something she always had to concentrate on in order to use? I didn't want her to live without touch, it had been hard enough to see it in Rogue and she wasn't actually my daughter. "Doc, can she control it?"

"It's hard to say at this point, but I'll venture a guess and say yes. She seemed to concentrate pretty hard on what she was doing to receive what she did from Angela, so I don't think she'll have to keep herself protected like Marie does."

"Well I wanna know as soon as possible, you got that? I don't want her cut off from the world cuz of this. Bad enough she's seen what she's seen already, I don't want it to be worse."

"I assure you, we'll do everything we can to ensure she gains as much control over this as is humanly possible."

Before I could answer, Evie stirred on the table and opened her eyes. I went to her side and smoothed the hair away from her forehead, smiling. "Hey princess, you scared your Daddy."

"I'm sorry." She said tiredly. "I just saw all this stuff and it made me dizzy. Can we go back to our room now?"

"Sure sweetheart, c'mon."

I gathered her into my arms and carried her back to our suite. I went to tuck her into her own bed, but she tightened her arms around my neck. "No, let me sleep in with you, please? I don't wanna be alone tonight."

"Ok princess, come on." I lay her down on Angela's side of the bed and climbed in carefully next to her. As soon as I was settled, she snuggled into my side and was asleep before I could say goodnight. I lay there for a long time just listening to her breathe and hoped that everything would work out for her. There had been times where I thought that my own powers were a curse, something inside me that I couldn't control and only hurt the people I loved. It had taken me a damned long time to learn how to control that feral side of me and Weapon X had done their best to strip that control away from me once upon a time. But they didn't succeed and everything that had happened since brought me to this very moment.

Now I find out that my daughter might actually have a power that she could someday think of as a curse, something that she might not be able to control no matter how hard she tried. I closed my eyes and sent out a prayer to anyone that would listen that I was wrong. I could bear the burden of my own curse, but I didn't think I could take it if my daughter had a curse of her own.

* * *

**AN:** Well folks, there you have it...the official halfway point! Only 13 more chapters plus an epilogue to go! Think you're up for it:) Special thanks to Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, my completely awesome beta readers...Extra Special thanks to DBK(tm) for bugging me in such endearing ways to give him more to read...:) Super Special thanks to my readers for sticking with me through this whole thing...and Super Swanky Special thanks to my reviewers, who were levanna, theNightEnchantress, sela103 (who's still a bit behind, but that's ok!) and reeltreble1031...levanna: Glad you liked my twist...:) And there's a few more where that came from...:) theNightEnchantress: thanks for the review! sela: I thought i told you once before that school should come before any fanfic, even if it's mine! Hope you did well on your tests! reeltreble: Thanks for the many reviews! And hey, better late than never on reviews, right?

**Speaking of which...for all you readers that haven't reviewed, why not give it a try now? Consider it a gift to me for the holiday of your choice...and for each new reviewer i get, there will be a new chapter in return! So what are you waiting for:)**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

(Angela)

I wasn't surprised when I woke up in the infirmary the next night. I _was_ surprised to find that I had Bosko in my arms and to see Logan waiting there for me…with Evie. As soon as my eyes came into focus, she leapt from her chair and threw herself into my arms, babbling incoherently. I stroked her hair and shushed her, all the while shooting a death glare over her head to my mate. We'd discussed this before, that we weren't going to tell her about the rest of my mutation until she was older, but that had all apparently gone right out the window the day before. Once I had her calmed down and assured that I was just fine, I had Logan take her back up to our suite with the promise that I would be right behind them. As soon as the door closed behind them, I whirled around and smacked Hank square in the chest. "Blue, how in hell could you let her see me like that?" I growled.

"And how did you expect me to keep it from her?" He replied, his eyes narrowed. "She knew you'd come home, knew you'd been hurt and she insisted on seeing you."

"You couldn't have put me in isolation or something? Gods only know what kind of trauma I'm gonna have to deal with now!"

"Angela, I think you're not giving her enough credit. We made a discovery about her mutation while you were…out." He briefly explained his theory about the possibilities of her powers including something he called psychometry and how she had seemed to almost speak to me while she held my hand. "So as you can see, her powers are either growing or else we've been treating them as something they're not."

"Will she be able to control it?" I asked. "Or is she gonna see stuff every time she touches something?"

"It's hard to say at this time, but it does seem that she needs to concentrate on the object or person in order to see anything." He placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Logan has already asked the same things and in my opinion, she won't have to wear gloves or avoid touch her whole life."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Well at least there's that. But I'm still pissed off that you let her see me dead. What if _this_ was the time it crapped out on me and I didn't come back?"

"That's a chance you take every time you go out there, but if it hasn't failed on you for this long, there's every reason to believe that it won't, barring removal of major organs that is."

"Well that's comforting," I mumbled, "but I'm still pissed you let Evie see me like that."

"I've suffered your ire before, I'm certain I'll survive this time as well." He chuckled and I couldn't help but smile. "Now get out of here, go to your family and try not to get shot next time ok?"

"Yes sir Dr. McCoy sir." I replied and left the infirmary. I ran into a few people on the way, who all said "glad to have you back" or some variation thereof. Even the now not-so-little Ryan Hiller (he was now almost seventeen years old and topped me by better than a foot) caught up with me to give me a hug. He'd gotten over his crush on me years before, but he still sometimes made his hair mimic mine on occasion, "for old times' sake" he'd say with a grin. Of course, I still saw him as that little seven-year-old boy who drew me pictures and blushed when he saw me in the halls, no matter how tall he got.

I finally made it back to the suite to find Logan reading "Cinderella" to Evie, but she was fighting to stay awake. "Mommy!" She cried and ran into my arms. I held her close to me for long moment and I could feel her body shaking with barely-contained tears. "I was so worried for you!"

"Hey punkin, it's ok. Mommy's really hard to kill." I pulled away and looked at her. "But I didn't want you to see me like that, you know."

She sighed. "I know Mommy. But don't be mad at Daddy for it, cuz I wanted to see you, so it's not his fault."

"Daddy should know better." I replied and took her hand. She was already too big for me to carry around, much as I wanted to, and it was painfully obvious she'd be closer in height to Logan before she was done growing. I tucked her back into bed and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Now it's time for you to get to sleep, young lady. Tomorrow's a school day."

"Yeah, I know." She sighed. "G'night Mommy, g'night Daddy. I love you."

"Night princess," Logan said and kissed her softly. I followed him out of her room and closed the door gently behind me. I took two steps forward and he caught me up in his arms, kissing me passionately. I wrapped myself around him and he carried me over to the bed, then fell back on it with me on top. He broke away and looked at me, running his finger lightly down my face. "Jesus darlin', I missed you." He breathed.

"Logan, I was only away for a day." I replied with a smile, but I knew what he meant. Even if I didn't have the nine lives going for me, I would gladly claw my way through five miles of solid rock to get back to him. "But I can't complain about the welcome back."

I leaned down and kissed him again, his hands wandering up my back and he slid my tank top over my head. In a flash, he flipped me over and stripped off his own shirt before lowering himself to kiss me again. His hands and mouth wandered over my flesh, leaving gooseflesh in their wake, my own hands tracing arcane patterns over his skin. He reached over and switched off the bedside lamp, leaving the room bathed in moonlight. It was only about a quarter full, but it reflected off the snow outside and everything was bathed in an unearthly glow. We gently finished undressing each other and made love slowly, almost reverently, taking our time to enjoy being together again. I came with a gasp, my eyes locked with his as he whispered my name over and over, finally reaching his own climax a moment later. He pressed his forehead to mine and kissed me, his muscles twitching from the exertion. I reached up and smoothed his hair back, smiling up at him. No words were necessary.

A few minutes later, he separated from me and I sighed in regret, hating the feeling of no longer being joined. I rolled over and lay my head on his chest, my fingers toying with his chest hair. "I should be very angry with you right now, you know." I said.

"Yeah, I know," he replied, "but I hope I managed to change your mind."

"Yeah, you did," I sighed, "but you still shouldn't have let her see me like that."

"Darlin', she's our daughter. She woulda figured out a way to get down there anyway."

"Probably. Still, I didn't want to tell her about it unless she inherited any of our powers too."

"Well it's too late now. She knows an' I'm sure she'll be all right with it. 'Sides, if she sees anythin' like that happenin' to you from now on, she'll know it ain't permanent."

"I suppose." I leaned up and kissed him, my hands wandering down his body. When I broke away, he looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I smiled. "Ready for round two?"

"Mm, really? Ya tryin' to kill me?"

"Nope. Just want to remember how it feels to be alive."

"Well, far be it for me to say no to that."

Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep that night.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

North Dakota. Nebraska. British Columbia. On and on, we hit ten bases in ten weeks and no Director. We narrowed our search, making a guess that the helicopter that had transported Carol Danvers to her meeting with the Director had circled for hours before setting back down and hit four more bases in the following four weeks. No Director. I was frustrated beyond reason and Logan was no better. By the time we were done, it was mid-April and we had squat to show for it. I looked over the map we'd been using to mark our targets and growled. "It's like he's some kind of damn ghost." I said and looked up at Rogue. "Are you sure about the time it took to get there?"

"Yes, Angela, I'm positive." She replied, frowning at the map. "I don't see how she could've gotten the timin' wrong."

"Well we're sure as hell missin' somethin'." Logan said as he sat back in his chair. "Just wish I knew what the fuck it was."

"Mon ami, could it be that she did not meet wit' him at a military base?" Remy asked and Logan's head snapped up. "From what Marie's seen in the memories, she couldn't see any of the surroundin' area."

"What, you think they took her somewhere else? His own house?"

"Why not? If dis man is as powerful as you say, it make sense that he have his own place to hide."

"And if that's the case, he could be anywhere in this entire area." Marie indicated a massive portion of the States and Southwest Canada. "Except for large cities, she woulda seen the lights."

"Fuck me running." I spat and Remy chuckled. "That's too much, it'd be like looking for a certain needle in a pile of needles."

"So what, we give up?" Logan asked.

"No, never. We just have to hope that we can catch him at one of the bases."

"Danvers didn't seem to think he ever went to any of the actual Weapon X sites." Rogue said, rubbing her temple. "At least, he never visited Death Valley that she knew of."

"So it's possible he had, but she didn't know about it." I chewed on my thumbclaw and peered at the map for a moment, then shoved away from the table. "Shit this is pointless!"

"Darlin', calm down." Logan said, crossing over to me. "We just hafta…"

"No, I will not calm down! What's our body count right now, huh? A thousand? Five thousand? It doesn't matter, not one of them is the one we want!"

"Angela, we're doin' all we can." He whispered, wrapping his arms around me. "We'll get him, you know we will."

"Well then we need to do better. We all know that until that guy's bleeding out at my feet, our daughter and everyone in this house is at risk. I won't have it, Logan, I won't."

"So what do you want to do?" Marie asked.

"I don't know. We've got them off balance right now, they don't know where we'll be hitting and a week isn't enough time for them to implement any real defenses. Maybe if we back off for a little while, at least until school's over, maybe we can come up with something else."

Rogue sat up and looked me in the eye. "I have an idea." We all turned to her. "I know you don't really wanna involve me anymore, but take me with you the next time y'all go out. I still have all those new powers an' since it's so hard to hurt me now, ya won't even have to let me borrow any of yours unless somethin' drastic happens."

"No, absolutely not, Marie. If we get caught…"

She crossed her arms and walked over to me. "Let me put it to you this way, Angela. You're takin' me with you next time you go out. I ain't givin' you a vote." She raised her chin stubbornly as I glared up at her. It's so hard to exert authority when the people you're arguing with are six inches taller than you. "You know I'm right. You still need me an' what I can do, what I can find out that people haven't told."

"Wait darlin', she's got a point." Logan added. "The only reason we kept her outta it before was for her own safety. Now she's got all these new powers an' the doc thinks they're here to stay. Now she can get close enough to touch 'em all, take a quick look around an' see if they know anythin'."

"I'm not going to win this one, am I?" I spat. "Fine, whatever, you can come along. But _you_," I spun around to face Gambit, "you are not coming." He opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off. "No arguments! I can't risk that you'll be recognized as an X-Man. Rogue's distinctive enough as it is."

"But Remy want to help you, petit chat," he protested. "He know what dis all mean to you."

"I get that, but you're still not coming. I don't want Marie coming, but she's got too much of me and Logan running around in that head of hers to take no for an answer. You're not coming because they might need you while we're gone."

"An' dey migh' need you too, mon ami, but still you go." He stared me down with his strange red eyes. "You an' Logan, you mean the world to Rogue, she do anyting to help you out. Rogue, she mean the world to Remy an' Remy do anyting to help her." He shrugged. "You the only family she got an' if Remy can help keep it dat way, den dat what Remy do."

I turned away from him, muttering under my breath. "Damned silver-tongued devil." Remy gave me a half-smile and even Logan was chuckling. "I really do hate you, you know that right?"

"Ah, mon ami, the line between love an' 'ate be a t'in one." He took my hand and kissed it. "Remy don' take it personal."

I yanked my hand away and slapped him playfully upside his head. "Don't push it, Cajun. Just because I'm not actively trying to kill you anymore doesn't mean anything."

"As you say, petit chat." He said with a wink.

I sighed and turned back to the map. "All right, there's a base here off the coast of Washington state that looks promising…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kyro set the jet down in the shallows on the far side of the island from where the base was. Except for the part where it was salt water instead of fresh, the place looked enough like the base at Hudson Bay to give me, Logan and Kyro goose bumps. Rogue shuddered as well, remembering that mission almost ten years ago now. I looked at the young woman next to me and it was hard to see the teenager she'd been when I first met her. She'd grown up so fast and I felt a pang of remorse at the thought that it could be my own little girl sitting next to me in twenty years. Time goes by so quickly, even when you have so much of it like Logan, Kyro and I do.

Kyro opened a hatch on the side of the plane and a gangplank slid out, forming a bridge to the shore of the island. Rogue decided to show off her new powers and simply flew over, then waited for the rest of us with feigned impatience. Against my wishes, Remy also came across with us, though I would have felt better leaving him in the jet for safekeeping. But he wasn't about to be persuaded from the side of his love and deep down, I couldn't blame him. Keeping him there would have been like asking me to stay behind. Kyro secured the jet and with a voice command over his com, it sank about eight feet beneath the surface, blending with the black water and becoming almost invisible. We all made our way quietly to the nearest stand of pine trees for a last-minute conference.

"Ok, everyone got their coms on?" Logan asked and we all nodded. "Remember, code names only from here on out." He looked at each of us, but I knew it was more for the benefit of Rogue and Gambit than Kyro and me. After all, we'd been doing this for years and had the whole thing down to more or less a science. "Gambit, Rogue, I want the two of you to hang back if we encounter anyone. Do not attack anyone unless they take the first shot at you, understood?"

"But Log…Wolverine, how much help are we gonna be if we don't get into it?" Marie pointed out.

"Look, there's no reason for you two to turn into a coupla killers just cuz you're here with us. Technically, this ain't even your fight. You were right, you can get information easier than we can an' with a lot less screamin' on their part. But I don't wanna risk somethin' happenin' to you an' I'm sure Gambit here will agree. So, you stay back until they shoot at ya or we call ya in, got it?"

"Oui, mon ami." Gambit replied. "You the leader of dis ting, we do what you say."

"Good. Hellcat, hit the high road to the north, Totem to the south. Rogue, fly up over the trees but stay close to the canopy so you can dive down if you're spotted. Gambit, with me. If you spot any sentries, take 'em out. Let's move."

I scrambled up the nearest tree, climbing as high as I could and still have the trunk support my weight. Fortunately, the trees grew close enough together that I could leap from tree to tree with little effort, which was always better from my perspective and I know Kyro liked it better this way too. Logan had his enhanced sense of smell to help him along, but I didn't have that and neither did Totem. Like me, his only enhanced senses were hearing and eyesight, though both of those were better than mine in his feral form. So we had to hope we could hear or see the enemy before they heard or saw us. Logan could smell them from a pretty fair distance and although he was just as good in the trees as we were, his hunting ground on the low road suited him much better.

About two klicks from the base, we spotted the first knot of sentries. On a normal mainland base, sentries would never even think about grouping up like this, but it had always been my experience that on smaller, offshore bases they were a little more lax about their jobs, expecting the distance from the mainland to do half the work for them. People like to believe that they're safe when no one can see what they're doing, especially when the nearest authority other than base personnel are thirty miles to the east on the mainland. Thirty miles of ocean isn't that much when compared to all the other water out there, but as a barrier between them and everyone else, they figure that the chances of anyone actually showing up without them knowing it are slim. Of course, they weren't trained to expect people in stealth aircraft that can make water landings showing up in the middle of the night when things are supposed to be quiet anyway. So, there were five of them standing in a little group near the edge of the tree line, smoking cigarettes and trying to one-up each other with tall tales of women or missions they'd been on. Five of them, five of us.

"Hellcat to Wolverine," I whispered into the com, "I take it you smelled our friends a long time ago."

"Roger that Hellcat," he replied, "do you have visual?"

"Affirmative. I see five hostiles, seem pretty relaxed so hitting them won't be a problem. Hell, you could probably do it yourself if I'd let you."

"You're right, but then you'd be cranky an' I ain't in the mood to deal with that."

"Smart man, Wolverine." Rogue piped in. "So what's the plan?"

"Hellcat, Totem, get as close as you can an' wait for my signal. Rogue, take position directly above an' hold. I'm gonna circle 'round an' hit 'em from the east, Gambit holds here to the west. Standard pincer maneuver, just like in the old days. Execute in thirty seconds."

"Copy that Wolverine, holding for your signal." Rogue replied. "What'll the signal be, anyway?"

"I'm thinkin' lots an' lots o' screamin'."

I smiled. "Roger Wolverine."

I made my way carefully down the branches of the spruce I was in, any noise I was making masked by the wind blowing through the trees. I positioned myself as directly above the nearest sentry as I could and tensed, waiting for Logan to make his move. A few seconds later, the sentry furthest from me let out a strangled cry, the points of three gleaming blades protruding from his shoulder. That was enough screaming for me, so I leapt from the bough and landed square on the back of the man I'd chosen just as he was bringing his rifle to bear on the only target he could see: Logan. But suddenly having two hundred pounds of me landing on him made the shot go wild and it hit one of the other sentries, taking off most of his face in a spray of black blood. I grabbed my guy by the back of his neck and pounded his face into the turf until I heard something crack and he was still. I stood up and turned, but the fight was already over. Rogue landed next to the guy that had been shot and kicked him, then turned to me with a pout. "No fair, you took out my guy." She said and I chuckled. "What?"

"Nothing, Rogue." I replied. "Come on, we still have work to do."

I walked over to Logan, but I could hear Remy talking behind me. "Mon cherie, do not be upset wit Hellcat. She did not know that would happen."

"I never get to have any fun with those two around." She complained.

"Rogue, zip it." Logan snapped and the two of them joined us and Kyro in a huddle. "All right, this is where it gets messy. You can still go back to the jet, we won't think less of ya for it."

"No way, Wolverine," Rogue said, "I made it this far, I'm goin' all the way with it."

"Fine." He peered into the gloom towards the base. "Now the base is another klick to east. You can bet it'll have more men an' some kinda perimeter fence. Gambit, I want you to just blast us a hole through the thing, save me a few thousand volts through my bones. Rogue, you're stayin' up an' doin' some recon, find us some cover. Our files don't have detailed plans o' these places, so we hafta figure out where the entrance to the underground portion is."

"What makes you think it's underground anyway?" She asked.

"Darlin', if there's one thing we've learned it's that the worst stuff is _always_ underground. Trust me, it ain't gonna be topside." She nodded and he went on. "Hellcat, Totem, I want you two on the high road as long as possible. Don't go to ground til ya have to."

"Wolverine, we know all of this," Totem said with a smirk, "so why do we do this every time?"

"Caution is the better part of valor, my friend." I said. "The one time we _don't_ go over this will be the one time we fuck it up."

"Exactly." Logan replied. "An' I ain't about to fuck it up, ever. Now, you have your orders, let's move."

"Wait, mon ami," Gambit piped in, "what will you be doing?"

Logan grinned and I chuckled. "Gambit, he's gonna walk right up like he owns the place," I said, "dick swinging and possibly whistling a jaunty tune."

"But what about caution being the better part of valor?"

"Listen Cajun, there's only two ways to go 'bout this." Logan said. "We could try an' sneak in, but that'll take more time. Now if I walk up an' create a diversion, get the guards after me, they'll be too busy to worry 'bout why the fence is blowin' up for no reason. If one o' ya can come give me a hand, great, but I ain't countin' on it. I'll be fine either way, I always make it through."

I winced at the last part of his statement. It's true, he did always make it through; it was what we were created to do. But it didn't mean I liked it and I could tell Rogue was of the same thinking as me. She understood better than anyone that part of what made us so good at what we did was that, deep down, we both always had a bit of a death wish. When it seems like you can't die, it's the one thing that you want more than anything. I got over mine a long time ago, but I don't think Logan let go of his until the first time Rogue absorbed his powers and left him closer to death than he could ever remember being. But that still didn't mean we had to like letting him take all the big risks.

When no one else had any other protests or questions, he nodded once and we all took our respective positions. We checked in with him once we were ready and he gave the order for us to move. It didn't take us long to get to the perimeter and, predictably, the trees had been cleared out about fifty yards from the actual fence, which meant that Totem and I had to drop to the ground in order to be effective. Rogue reported that she was above the base proper and searching for cover and Logan told the rest of us to hold our positions until he got into position himself. I watched as he broke cover and though he didn't whistle the jaunty tune, he did walk right up to the perimeter fence and started moving along it until he encountered the guards. At the first report of gunfire, Gambit broke cover, a glowing card between his fingers and he casually tossed it at the fence, blasting a hole large enough to drive a car through. Totem and I dropped to the ground and while Kyro went with Gambit to find Rogue, I took off down the fence line towards Logan.

I found him engaged in quite the melee with at least half a dozen guards, two already dead on the ground in front of him. The rest were trying to keep their distance, having seen what his claws did to their unfortunate comrades, but they had no way of knowing that they never had a chance. I didn't bother trying to hide my presence, since the noise they were making more than covered any sounds I made. I simply strode up to the nearest one and kicked him in the back of the knees as hard as I could with my claws out, severing tendons in the process and he went down on one knee with a cry of agony. Two of the remaining soldiers brought their guns around and aimed at me, but I dove over the head of the wounded man and their shots went past me harmlessly. I didn't bother getting to my feet right away, I simply kicked out at them and swept them both off their feet. They landed hard, the wind knocked out of them and I pounced on the nearest one, slashing out his throat with a single swipe of my claws, then leapt to my feet as the other started struggling to stand. I kicked him in the chest and felt something crack before he fell back again and I swept his weapon out of his hand and shot him point blank in the forehead. I turned to look for another opponent, tossing the gun aside, but Logan had already finished off two of them and I watched as the head leapt from the body of the remaining guard. He turned when he heard me behind him in a defensive crouch, but relaxed when he saw it was me.

"Nice work, Wolverine." I said as I kicked the headless corpse in the ribs. "He didn't seem to be using that anyway."

"Yeah well, I never gave 'em much credit anyway, once I had the time to think 'bout it." He replied with a grin. "C'mon, let's find the others."

"Roger that." We stalked cautiously to where Gambit had blasted the fence away and I waited while Logan acquired their trail. I walked a few feet behind him, my eyes and ears wide open for any sign of trouble, but I didn't sense anything in our immediate area.

After a few minutes, we heard Marie over the com. "Rogue to Wolverine, what's your twenty?"

"'Bout thirty feet from Gambit's door an' movin' to his position." He replied.

"Roger that. Found us a nice empty truck near the bunkers, but there's a lot of activity in one o' the warehouses over here. Should we move in for recon?"

"Negative Rogue. Totem, you go alone an' see what there is to see an' report back if we ain't to your position yet."

"Roger Wolverine." Kyro replied. The com fell silent and we continued towards the rest of the team. We encountered no other resistance, although my sensitive ears did pick up on the sounds of the activity that Rogue reported as we passed a large warehouse near where they were gathered. We found them without a problem, huddled in the back of a troop transport vehicle with a canvas cover.

"Ok team, report." Logan said as soon as we were settled.

"I made it down here without seein' anybody." Rogue said. "I hovered for a bit til I saw Gambit an' Totem, got us under cover an' the rest you know. I haven't seen or heard anyone besides whatever's goin' on in that warehouse."

"No sign of Totem yet?"

"Non, Wolverine." Gambit replied. "But dere has been no unusual sounds or fighting, so Gambit would guess dat our friend is still all right."

"We don't guess in this business, Cajun." Logan poked his head out the back for a second, then looked at each of us in turn. "Ok, here's what we're gonna do. Hellcat, you circle 'round that warehouse to the left with Gambit, me an' Rogue'll go to the right. If you see anythin' that's even a little bit off, report immediately but do not engage unless you have no other choice."

"Yes sir Wolverine sir." I said sarcastically and he glared at me. "What?"

"Hellcat, I know you can handle yourself an' I'm sure Gambit can too. But Totem shoulda been back by now so be ready for anythin'."

"I shouldn't have to point out that I've been doing this a bit longer than you, so don't go thinking I'm getting soft or anything, ok? I know what the hell I'm doing."

"I know darlin'. But he shoulda been back by now, so be _extra_ careful, all right?"

I nodded and he looked back outside. "Ok, let's go."

We hopped out of the truck and went our separate ways. I had to keep looking back to make sure Gambit was still with me, he moved that quietly. I sometimes forgot he used to be a thief, so although moving quietly was something that was second nature to me for most of my life, it was something he'd had to learn how to do or else risk getting caught. We stayed as close to the wall as we could, hugging the shadows for the meager cover they provided. When we reached the corner, I gave him a hand signal to hold his position and peeked around it carefully and swore at what I saw. Three guards had somehow managed to subdue Totem and he was trussed up like a turkey at their feet, unmoving. I strained my ears to make out what they were saying.

"…one of those escaped subjects?" The first guy said.

"Yeah, I think so." Said the second one. "The Director said they'd been hitting bases all over, haven't left anyone alive."

The third one kicked Kyro in the ribs and he didn't even flinch. "Wonder what this guy's doin' here alone?"

"Oh if he's here, the other two can't be far behind." The first one replied, looking around. "If that's the case, they'll do anything to get this one back."

"What I don't get is how only three people have managed to take out so many of us and they're still kicking."

"Foley, don't you listen to anything they tell us around here? These three aren't your normal muties. They're all but unstoppable, especially that Wolverine. At least Hellcat can be killed for a little while, long enough to get her out of the fight and back in a cage where she belongs."

The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I was itching to spring on them and tear their guts out, but I held back long enough to go back along the wall a little way to report on what I'd seen. "Hellcat to Wolverine, come in." I whispered into the com.

"Wolverine here, what is it?"

"They got Totem, looks like he's out like a light. Three guards that I can see, looks like they're waiting for someone, around the front near the main entrance."

"Copy that. Do a little more recon, see what's goin' on if ya can."

"Roger that." I swallowed hard. "Wolverine, I think they were ready for us."

"Why you say that?"

"Stuff they said. I'll see what else I can learn. Hellcat out."

I eased back along the wall and peeked around the corner. No one else had joined them yet, so I hoped I could learn a bit more before this was over. Totem was still not moving, but I didn't know if it was a healing coma or if they'd done something to him. I got my answer a few seconds later.

"Larson, you still got darts left?" Foley asked.

"Yep, about fifteen I think, why?" The one called Larson answered.

"Well, it took six to bring this son of a bitch down and Wolverine's a lot tougher, so it'll be up to you to plug him as many times as you can."

"What about Hellcat?" The third, still unnamed guard asked.

"Shit, we'll just shoot her full of holes and wait til she comes back. Colonel Maxwell said she'll always come back so long as we don't remove anything vital."

"Ya know, they had a picture of her at the briefing the other day." Third guy whistled. "She's one hot little number, for a mutie. Think they'll let us at her?"

"You try that Mason and it'll be the last thing you do." Larson snapped. "Remember, her and Wolverine are considered extremely dangerous." He peered into the warehouse, then turned back to the others. "I heard she gutted a guy once and strung him up with his own intestines back when she was still with the program."

"Oh, fuck that. No way she did that." Actually, I had done that, but that's another story for another time. I smiled, but kept listening. "For one thing, she's kinda little. Can't see how she'd be strong enough to do that."

"Muties like her are stronger than most, not like super strong or anything, but way more than enough to do that. And don't forget that they told us her and Wolverine are together now and he's a really evil son of a bitch. More animal than anything, he'll tear you apart if you smell like her even a little bit."

"Yeah, whatever." Mason said. "Don't see why they want them back so bad if they're so fucking dangerous."

"Cuz if they can get them all back under control, nothing can stop them. The four they've got now are like cheap copies compared to those two. You want someone really dead? You sent those two and there wouldn't be an identifiable corpse for a mile."

I slipped back around the corner and tapped my com. "Hellcat to Wolverine, come in."

"Wolverine here, you still in position?"

"Affirmative. Watch out, they have some kind of darts that worked just fine on Totem, so you can bet if they use enough of them on us, we're done for."

"Shit. Ok, here's what we'll do. I'm goin' high road this time, up the side o' this warehouse an' me an' Rogue'll come at 'em from above. Keep a lookout an' as soon as you see me drop, you two run in an' do what you can."

"Copy that. Hellcat out." I took a deep breath and looked at Remy. "You ready for this?"

"As I'll ever be, mon ami. Gambit follow your lead all de way." I nodded and peered back around the corner. About half a minute later, I saw Logan drop down behind them and I rushed around the corner. The one called Mason whirled around, his weapon already barking and I hit the ground in a roll, but a bullet still caught me in my upper arm. I grunted at the impact, but before I could react, Rogue swooped down and grabbed him, taking him up with her and he cried out in surprise. She took him about fifty feet up before simply dropping him and he hit the ground with a meaty thud.

I turned to find another opponent just in time to see Larson shoot Logan with his dart gun I don't know how many times. I leapt on Larson's back and wrapped my hands around his throat, my claws dug deep into the flesh. He gagged and dropped his weapon, his hands coming up in a futile attempt to pry my fingers away. "Too bad I don't have time to string you up with your own guts, huh Larson?" I snarled as I ripped his throat out and he fell to his knees making a gurgling sound as he drowned in his own blood. I whipped around again in time to watch as Logan buried both sets of his claws in Foley's chest, then kick the corpse to the ground. I caught motion out of the corner of my eye and turned to the warehouse door, only to see about a dozen more soldiers armed with both regular and dart guns rushing towards us. I took on a defensive posture, but ducked when I heard Gambit shout "hit de ground!" A heartbeat later I heard a series of explosions as he tossed about half a dozen charged playing cards into the opening and when the smoke cleared, there were twelve more bodies on the deck.

Rogue was already crouched next to Kyro, removing his restraints but he was still not moving. "Rogue, take him and get the hell back to the jet!" Logan shouted.

"No! You still need me!" She retorted stubbornly.

"Forget it, that part of the plan's aborted. Get him back there, now!"

Rogue scowled, but took Kyro in her arms and shot into the sky. Yeah, those new powers of hers were sure coming in handy. I looked at Logan and he motioned for us to follow him back around the side of the warehouse. We barely managed to duck behind a stack of crates before a dozen more soldiers came around the corner, loaded for bear. We waited until the last one was past us, then broke cover. Remy tossed a card over the heads of the ones closest to us and it impacted square on the back of the leader, blowing him and the two men nearest him to oblivion. The rest hit the ground and Logan and I were on them before they could recover from the blast. I didn't spend too much time with them, simply slashing one throat after another. I heard Remy grunt as a soldier who'd managed to make it to his knees whipped him across the face with the butt of his rifle. Gambit caught the weapon in his hand and charged it up, then released it and as soon as the guy tried to pull the trigger, the weapon exploded in his face, taking off most of the left side. It was over in a few seconds and we rushed back along the warehouse to the bunkers.

Logan paused for a second before heading for the one furthest from the truck we'd hidden in before. He kicked the door down and waved us inside ahead of him before closing the door. It was thankfully empty and we hurried to the back and crouched down behind the bunks there. "Ok, sitrep," he whispered.

"I'm shot." I said simply and he looked at me, clearly alarmed. "It's not bad, in my upper arm here."

He reached over and ripped the sleeve of my micro fiber shirt to inspect the wound. "Gambit, find somethin' we can use for a bandage." He ordered.

"Do we have time for that?" I asked, hissing as he poked at the wound.

"We don't have time not to." He replied simply. I gritted my teeth as he continued to prod at the gunshot, then cursed under his breath. "Darlin', remember our first op together?"

"Yeah, I do." I said and slid out one of my claws. Gambit returned with a towel and what appeared to be a pillowcase, but paled and looked away when he realized I was digging the bullet out of myself. It was deeper than I thought, but after a few minutes of digging, I finally managed to pop it out. Logan busied himself tearing up the towel and the pillowcase and managed to get the wound bandaged enough that I wouldn't end up bleeding all over the place and leaving a trail for the enemy to follow. I sat back for a moment, breathing hard. "Gods, that fucking hurts."

"How long before it heals, mon ami?" Gambit asked looking concerned.

"Couple hours usually." I replied. "Left arm's gonna be pretty useless for anything heavy, but I can still kill people with it."

"Good deal." Logan said and tapped his com. "Wolverine to Rogue, come in."

"Rogue here."

"You make it back ok?"

"Sure did, we're locked inside and back underwater. You want me to come back?"

"Negative, hold tight. Hellcat was right, they're waitin' for us. We'll have to do this the quick an' dirty way."

Rogue sighed. "Copy that. Gonna try to bring me someone to get the info from?"

"We'll do what we can, but I ain't makin' you any promises. Let us know as soon as Totem comes 'round, all right?"

"Roger Wolverine. Rogue out."

Gambit and I looked at him and he sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "So now what do we do?" I asked.

"Either that warehouse is one helluva diversion or else what we want's in there." He said. "We gotta get in there."

"What about from the roof?" Remy asked. "Surely dere be a way to get up dere."

"He's got a point." I added. "If nothing else, there'll be ventilation shafts up there we can use to get inside the upper levels."

Logan nodded. "All right, we'll do it. Ya ready to move?"

"As I'll ever be." I smiled at him and he grabbed me suddenly in a fierce embrace. "Whoa, this isn't in the mission parameters."

"I don't give a fuck. Look at you, gettin' all shot up again."

"I'm not 'all shot up'. It's one little gunshot wound. I've had worse, you know."

"I know. Don't mean I hafta like it." He kissed me and smiled. "Love you tiger."

"Love you too. Now let's get in there and finish this."

* * *

**AN:** I really hate to do this to everyone on what should be a happy/merry/joyous day, but i'll be putting this on hold for a little while...my fiance' just broke up with me and i am not sure how i feel about the rest of this story right now...i will finish posting it sooner or later, but right now i just don't feel up to reviewing and correcting and all that crap...my most sincere apologies... 


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

(Logan)

We cleaned up as much of Angela's blood as we could before we slipped out a window in the small office at the back of the bunker, not wanting to chance that there would be more guards waiting out in front. It took us a little longer to get back to the warehouse, since we were limiting ourselves to sticking close to buildings whenever possible, though we still had one encounter with a couple guards. We made quick work of them, killing them silently before they had even a chance to alert anyone. Finally, we got back to the warehouse and sure enough, there was a ladder in the back that led to the roof. We scrambled up before anyone noticed us and hid behind an air conditioning unit to plan our next steps.

I peered through a nearby skylight to the warehouse below. There were several large, bulky shapes covered with tarps that could have been anything from stacked crates to vehicles, soldiers swarming all over the place like ants. I couldn't make out what anyone was saying down there, but I'm sure it had at least something to do with us. After all, both Angela and I had our own "signature" ways of killing people; my own claws left distinctive stab wounds, she really like ripping out throats. I was hoping that Gambit was still an unknown quantity to them and that they thought we'd used grenades or some other explosives on those soldiers who'd been blown up. No puns intended, but he was our ace in the hole.

I turned back to the other two. "All right, it looks like they're still pretty confused down there, so I'm guessin' they don't know where we went. An' as Hellcat here'll tell you, people don't expect attacks from above."

"Oh hell no, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking." Angela said with a glance to the skylight.

"Actually, I am." I looked at Gambit. "Cajun, I don't think they know you're here yet, so you get to be the secret weapon."

"Oui, mon ami." He replied. "What's the plan?"

"Well, there's a catwalk 'bout ten feet below this skylight, the floor's 'bout thirty all told. Think you'll be able to land on that catwalk an' blow some o' them crates or whatever they got covered up down there?"

"Consider it done."

"Good." I turned back to Angela. "Now, I know you don't like droppin' thirty feet, but ya know you can make it."

"Yeah, I do," she replied, "and you're also right I don't like jumping that far. But hell, I survived bigger drops than this back in the Bad Old Days, right?"

"Just what I was thinkin'. Now me an' you'll go first. Gambit, I want you right behind us with those cards o' yours ready to go. I'm hopin' that you can blow somethin' before we even hit the ground. Don't worry 'bout hurtin' us, we can take a lot more abuse than you can imagine."

"Will it not take ma petit chat much longer to heal?" He asked with concern.

"It's a chance we have to take. Worst case scenario, you'll get her the hell outta here to heal up an' I'll take the rest of this place out on my own."

"Wolverine, there is no way, _no way_ I'm gonna let that happen," she said with a scowl. "If the three of us can't stay together, then we'll abort the whole damned thing and come back later."

"This is not a debate, darlin'."

"I beg to differ. They were ready for us, they've got something in those darts designed to stop us. They took Totem out with half a dozen of them and you've already taken a few hits."

"An' I'm still standin' an' still a hundred percent." Ok, so I was really more like ninety percent, but she didn't need to know that. "I'm pretty sure I can take a few more shots before it'll be a problem."

"If they take you down, I don't know if I'll be able to get you back out of here!" She leaned forward and gave me a hard stare. "Not without bringing in the X-Men and we already agreed to leave them out of this completely until we were finished." I swore softly and she smiled in satisfaction. "See, you know I'm right."

"Fine. If we can't all make it through, we'll abort. Now get in position, we have work to do."

We stood in a cluster and I waited for a space in the middle of the floor below to clear before making my move. Gambit already had a handful of cards, charged up and ready to go when I took a deep breath and jumped through the skylight, Angela right behind me. Glass showered the floor below and soldiers dove out of the way to avoid being cut to ribbons by the shards. I heard Gambit hit the catwalk above and as soon as my feet hit the floor, three huge explosions rolled through the warehouse as his cards found their targets. I instinctively reached over and grabbed Angela, throwing her to the floor with myself on top of her, covering her from the worst of the flying debris. I could hear her cursing as she struggled against me, knowing that I'd done what I did to keep her safe. When the last of the heat washed over me, I sprang to my feet and popped my claws, looking for something to kill.

At least two of the tarps had been covering some kind of vehicles, which were now nothing more than heaps of twisted metal. The last one had been covering crates, but whatever they'd held was now completely destroyed. I stalked through the wreckage, looking for a target, but all I found were bodies. I heard a clattering behind me and I turned, but it was only Gambit coming down the metal stairs from the catwalk above. He grinned at me and gave an exaggerated bow. "No need to thank Gambit." He said.

"Too bad, you're getting it anyway." Angela said and did something I never thought I'd live to see; she hugged him. "Perfect placement. I don't think there's anyone else alive in here."

"At least not up here." I replied and scanned the warehouse again. "C'mon, the entrance is probably back here and I'm sure that little display's gonna bring the rest of 'em back in no time."

The two of them nodded and we rushed to the back of the warehouse, where we found the expected office complete with hidden door to the lower levels. I shook my head with a bit of disbelief; you would think they'd hide these doors better, but once the military gets an idea in its head, it doesn't much like to change. I pried the door open with my claws and found myself facing an elevator shaft as opposed to a stairwell. The only light came in from the office I was standing in and I swore under my breath. I can see pretty well in low light and so can Angela, but Gambit had human eyes (for all that they were bright red), so he was going to have a much harder time of it. "Ok Hellcat, you go first, Gambit in the middle an' I'll take rearguard."

"Roger," Angela replied and slipped in front of me. She felt around until she found the service ladder to the left of the door and started her descent. Gambit waited a few seconds before following her, but I hung back a little longer to make sure no one was coming. I reached over and swung myself onto the ladder, then reached back and did my best to close the door over the opening. It left a gap of about two inches, but as long as no one looked too closely, they wouldn't notice and I was hoping they wouldn't waste the time to do more than glance in to make sure we weren't in the office. We climbed about forty feet before coming to the top of the actual elevator car. "Ok, now what?" Angela asked.

"Well, we can go back up an' try to find the first sublevel or just start here." I replied.

"Nah, we'll go from the bottom up. You know how they are, they never expect it and we've not done it that way for a few months now."

"Mm, it's no wonder why I love you, tiger." She smiled at me and I gave her wink before popping my claws and slashing through the top of the passenger car. We dropped in and I wasn't surprised to see the light in there was red. Of course the whole place was on high alert, but they were still expecting us to be topside where the mayhem was. I paused at the elevator doors and listened for movement, but I didn't hear anything. I wedged one of my claws in the crack and forced the doors open just enough to look out, but there was no one in the immediate area. I pried them open enough to slip through the gap, but no one took a shot at me and I waved the others out before letting the doors slide closed again. I sniffed the air, but if anyone was nearby they had no scent to speak of and since that's simply not possible, I nodded in satisfaction. "All right Hellcat, I want you an' Gambit to…"

"Absolutely not," She hissed. "We are not splitting up and that's final."

I rolled my eyes with a sigh. "Darlin', we don't have time to…"

"No, what we don't have time for is arguing. We stick together. If all five of us were still here, it'd be one thing, but we're not. So this is how it is, deal with it."

Damned stubborn woman. "Look, I understand where you're comin' from, but this'll go a lot quicker if we go in two teams."

"I'm not leaving you alone, damn it! We're better off together and you know it."

I gritted my teeth, feeling the seconds slip by. "Fine, but if we find anyone, I'm expectin' you to get 'em outta here, understood?"

She scowled at me, but nodded, then looked both ways down the hall. "We'll go left first."

"You always go left first," I muttered, but followed her anyway. There weren't any doors off this hallway, which seemed damned odd to me, but the next intersection gave us several to choose from. Most of them were offices that were empty due to the emergency on the levels over our heads. Only one was occupied and had it not been for the stink of blood and cordite, it would have appeared that the man in there had fallen asleep over his computer. However, the gun in his hand and the fact that the back of his head was missing showed that he'd killed himself rather than risk facing us.

Angela spent a few moments going over his computer, but he'd wiped everything off the drive except for the message that was displayed on the screen when we came in. It was short and to the point. "_Please forgive me for what I've done to you._" Kind of hard to do when he was dead, but he was the first person in all these years who'd done our job for us. Still, his cabinets were full of files and cd-roms, so Angela stacked them on the edge of the desk for us to retrieve on our way out. The rest of the rooms in this hall were either bare or used for storage, so we backtracked to where we'd started and continued our search.

I was correct when I assumed they'd never expect us to start at the bottom, a tactic that we didn't employ often due to circumstances, but we play the hand we're dealt. We came to another intersection to the right of the elevator, but this hallway only had two doors that led off of it. Naturally, we went left first and paused in front of the double door. I peeked through the window, then burst into the lab I saw on the other side. It was empty of anyone actually working, but it wasn't unoccupied. Alonng the far wall stood a series of tubes, each one holding a person. I would have assumed they were dead, except that there was a monitor hooked to each one that tracked their vitals. There were six in total, four men and two women, naked with probes and wires sticking out of them from all over. I growled when I saw them, then looked around for a way to get them out of there without killing them.

"Mon dieu! What is dis?" Gambit asked, looking a bit pale.

Angela was working quickly on a computer terminal. "Evolution." She replied as she typed. "Looks like they keep the new subjects in these tubes instead of the tank they used for us. Ah, here it is!" She entered a command and the lights on the monitors changed from yellow to green. "All right, open them up, but I can't promise they'll be awake."

I didn't need to be asked twice. I popped my claws and started slashing at the glass tubes, Gambit and Angela catching the people as they slid out with the fluid onto the floor. They pulled as many wires and probes as they safely could, then Gambit went in search of some kind of clothes to put on them. By the time he came back, the first of them was coming around slowly.

Angela was at his side in a flash. "Hey, you're all right now, ok? We're friends." She soothed as his eyes grew wild and he looked around. "We're gonna get you out of here, but I need you to help me, ok?"

"What the…where is he?" The man asked, looking around.

"Where's who?"

"Mm, don't know his name. Some doctor, I think." He shook his head. "Give me a minute."

She nodded and moved on to the next person. In the space of about ten minutes, they'd all come around and were in various stages of coherence ranging from groggy to terrified. The last was a girl who was barely eighteen years old and it took Angela another precious five minutes to get her calm enough to put on the scrubs Remy found. She calmed down a bit once she was dressed, but her eyes were still wild and she refused to say anything. I went back over to the first guy, who was sitting off to the side alone, holding his head in hands. "Hey bub, you got a name?"

He looked up at me slowly. "Yeah, I'm Evan…" he trailed off, then snorted bitterly. "Would you believe I don't remember my last name?"

"Yeah, I would," I replied. "What can you do?"

"What do you…oh, you mean my mutation, don't you?" His eyes narrowed and he stood up. "Why do you care?"

"Look, I ain't with these assholes, all right? Not for a long time. I got away, over twenty years ago," I jerked my head towards Angela, "an' so did she. We got another friend who got away 'bout ten years ago. Now we're gonna help you get outta here."

"For what? I have nothing to go back to, no family, they took it all away from me."

"If there's one thing I've learned over all this time…even if ya got nothin' left to lose, there's always one thing you can get."

"Really? And what would that be?"

I smiled coldly and Evan took a step back. "Revenge."

"Th-that's why you're here, isn't it? Both of you?" I nodded and he looked down. I watched as he turned it over in his mind, the offer I was making him. When he looked back at me, his eyes were solid black and stiff spines were starting to sprout from his hands and forearms. "I'm in."

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One of them didn't make it out of the lab, a guy whose name we never learned. Whatever they'd been doing to those people had been too much for him and he died on the floor. I know that the healing factor, when compared to other powers, isn't really that big of a deal and that some people heal better than others. But watching that poor guy die because his power was overwhelmed by whatever it was they did to him made me feel mortal all over again, the first time since the night I almost killed Marie.

Of the other five, only four were in any shape to give us a hand. Three men and one woman, all feral, all pissed off. One guy, Nathan was his name, reminded me of Wolfsbane back home in that he could shift to a full animal form, only his was a mountain lion. The other guy, Billy, was more like me, which shocked the hell out of me. His claws were a lot shorter, only about six inches long, but he had three on each hand and I wondered if old Tom Logan had gotten around a lot more than he let on back in the day. Or maybe it was Howlett who got around. I still don't know which one was my real father, I'll probably never know. Still, seeing those claws pop out of Billy was a real eye-opener. And there was Evan, with his black eyes and three-inch spines that covered him from elbow to knuckles. Last was Joanna, who had seven-inch retractable spikes in the palms of her hands that were poisonous. The other girl was like a robot, not speaking and only moving if prodded. Nathan took charge of her, saying that he wasn't much of a fighter anyway, but would do his best to keep her alive so we could take her back to the mansion with us. Fair enough. We now had seven people, although the four new ones really didn't care if they made it out alive.

In the end, they didn't. They put up a hell of a fight, each of them got their revenge, but we couldn't save them. I should've known better, should've suspected they were still in the pre-bonding stages, but they wanted to help, wanted their own slice of vengeance. Joanna died with her spikes buried in the chests of the same soldiers who cut her down. Billy took a bullet meant for Angela, the hole in his back big enough to put my fist in and he died in her arms. Nathan bought it protecting the other girl, shifting into his mountain lion form and killing seven men before they took him down. And Evan…he threw himself on a grenade tossed by one of the last six men still standing by the time we made it topside. Four new subjects, four people I wished like hell we could have saved, four more ghosts to follow me around. Four more people I have to avenge because I just couldn't protect them.

We torched the place before we left, letting all of it burn. Remy held onto the files we took out with us, at least a few of which looked to be more promising than anything else we'd ever brought out with us. A little voice in the back of my head kept telling me they were planted, that they were nothing but bait in a trap, but I didn't care. We already knew it was a trap, no matter how long we put it off. We knew where we had to go, what we had to do and that we might not make it out of that one. Area 51 was still waiting for us, a snare that was set to bring us back in. We would go there, eventually, we would walk into the fire and hope it didn't burn us. But that was for later. I turned my back on the ashes of this place that was more than just a grave for the bastards who did this to us. Underneath the bloody word, I wrote their names so no one would forget. Evan. Billy. Nathan. Joanna. Vengeance is yours, too.

* * *

**AN: **Well, here it is finally...another update...now, don't get TOO excited...i still have lots of stuff to do in my personal life that takes precedent, so please forgive me if the next update isn't in the expected four days...many heartfelt thanks to everyone who's sent me well wishes, prayers and good thoughts, they are most appreciated...Special thanks to my beta readers, Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, for making sure this made sense...Extra Special thanks to DBK(tm) for being so wonderful and supportive...Super Special thanks to my readers, for being patient with me through my tough time...and Super Swanky Special thanks to my reviewers, who were levanna, theNightEnchantress and a new name, Nataku's Wrath...:) levanna: Hope this chapter had a bit more of what you were expecting...NightEnchantress: Thanks for the review! NW: Thank you so much for your wonderful words! And yeah, i torture Logan a bit...i've often wondered why those of us who love him so insist on being so mean to him, but really...it's so much fun to do!

**Now if you've been reading and haven't reviewed, why not try it now? I swear, i'll post a new chapter if you do!**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN:** My most sincere apologies to everyone for the time it's taken me to get this update out, but life (much like shit) happens...since december, my life has been one big roller coaster of suck and it was hard for me to get the ambition to update...but since then, my fiancee and i have gotten back together, due in part to an extended stay of his own in the hospital...since jan. 26, he's had his gall bladder taken out, beaten pancreatitis and just came home today:) So, to celebrate, here's an update for you...:) Now, i'm not gonna say that i'm going to get back on my three day update rotation right away, but i promise that it won't be weeks on end before you hear from me again...:) So, without further ado, here's the next chapter!

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Chapter 17

(Angela)

Our mystery passenger didn't utter a word the entire flight home and I seemed to be the only person she trusted enough to let anywhere near her. She sat huddled in the seat next to mine, her eyes flitting from me to Remy to Marie and back again. She was extremely fair with pale blond hair and eyes so light a blue they were almost colorless. She looked more like the distilled essence of a girl than an actual person and I wondered what had happened to her to bring her to such a state. I had my own memories of what had happened to me, but her reactions made it seem like much more than pre-bonding surgery had gone on there. Remembering what I'd overheard those soldiers saying to one another on the base, I had a pretty good guess. Either her mutation wasn't scary enough for them to keep their hands away or else Joanna had weathered their "attentions" much better. Then again, the threat of a poisoned sting would be enough to keep most people away. Made me wish I could go back and kill them all over again.

Kyro had recovered by the time we got back to the jet, although he wasn't comfortable with being the main pilot for the return trip, complaining that he was still a bit groggy. So Logan took the stick and let Kyro act as the co-pilot. It's not that Logan's a bad pilot, because he's not. I'm pretty sure he'd been a pilot at some other point in his long life, even though we didn't really talk about the time before. He'd spent so much time looking for his past that when it finally came back to him, he was plenty happy about it but it was tempered by the bitterness of remembering all the people he'd left behind him. So we tended to not talk about it unless something came up that his past experiences would help us with. Like piloting the jet, for example. As I said, he's not a bad pilot. But he flew the jet like he rode his motorcycle, with a touch of reckless abandon. Not enough to put us in danger, but it was definitely an exciting trip home. I made a mental note to kick the crap out of him later for it.

We did radio ahead to the mansion that we had a recovered subject with us and to have the infirmary ready for anything – including calling in Dr. Endicott for the first time in ages. It was going to be hard enough to convince her that our lower levels were not the same as the lab we'd just taken her from, but to add Hank to that equation, well…I didn't want to give her too many shocks at once. I know that Big Blue is really just a big teddy bear, but this girl didn't and to the unsuspecting, he could be intimidating. So I thought it would be best if we had Dr. Endicott there, just in case. Charles agreed and assured me she'd be there by the time we landed.

An hour later, Logan brought us in to the hangar and lowered the ramp. I let everyone exit before me and I turned to the girl. She was still huddled there in her seat, only now her eyes were fixed on some faraway spot right in front of her. I placed a gentle hand on her forearm. "Hey, we're home now, ok? You're safe, nothing's gonna happen to you here, I promise." She continued to stare at nothing and I wasn't sure she could even hear me. "Come on, we have to take you to the infirmary, all right? We have a doctor here…"

"NO!" She screamed suddenly and her skin changed to scales, her eyes turned almost neon green with slit pupils, her hands and fingers elongated, turning into cruelly-hooked talons tipped with three-inch claws. She swiped at me and I barely managed to throw myself out of the way. She stood up and stalked towards me and I crabbed backwards until my back hit the main console at the front of the jet. I reached behind me and put the ramp up before she could get out into the mansion proper and sent a frantic mental message that I hoped the Professor caught.

"Listen to me; I am not with the people who did whatever they did to you." I said. "I am on your side, I'm here to help you!"

"Liar!" She shouted and her voice had a vague hissing quality to it.

"It's true, I swear!" I stood up and realized for the first time that she towered over me, almost as tall as Logan. "My name is Angela Rex. I used to be a captive of those people, a long time ago but I got away along with my lover. We saved you, ok? I don't know how long you've been there or how far they got with you, but you're safe now. We won't do anything to hurt you."

"How do I know this isn't another trick? Another fake thing to make me think I'm safe?"

"Well, I guess you don't. You have to decide to trust me on your own. But this isn't the base, all those people are dead, we killed them. Now you're at a safe place, for mutants."

At the last part, she lowered her hands and cocked her head. "Mutants? You're a mutant?"

I nodded, "Yes, I am. See?" I slid out my claws and her eyes widened a bit. "And that's not all. I bet you heal fast, right? So do I." I reached up and removed the makeshift dressing still covering the almost-healed bullet wound I'd take earlier. "I got this tonight. It's almost gone now, see?"

Her fingers began to shrink and her skin reverted back to normal as she reached out to touch my arm. "Y-you mean I'm not the only one?"

I looked at her in confusion. "The only one? You didn't know there were five other people in there with you?" She shook her head, her mouth clenched in a tight line. "Yeah, there were others. They helped us get out, gave their lives for us." I looked down and took a deep breath. "I didn't want them to, wouldn't have asked them to, but they did it because they had nothing left to lose."

"You came for me?" She whispered so softly I had to strain to hear her.

"Not specifically, no. We were there for another reason, but there was no way we'd leave you there once we found you." I took a tentative step towards her. "Did they tell you that you were the only one of your kind?"

"The only one like me, yeah. Said no one else can do what I do. Said my mom and dad let them take me because they were afraid of me, that I was all alone and no one was coming for me, not ever."

"They lied, ok? That's what they do, they lie." I took another step and put my hand gently on her arm again. "Do you remember your name?"

"Isabel. My name's Isabel, but my friends all called me Izzy. I, uh, I don't remember my last name. They took it away from me."

"Yeah, they took my lover's name away too, once, but he got it back. We'll get yours back too." I chanced slipping my arm around her. "Come on, we have a doctor here, a woman, and we need to know what all they did to you."

"It-it's really over?"

"It's really over."

She sobbed loudly, the strength going out of her legs and she collapsed, taking me to the floor with her. I held her and stroked her hair, still sticky with the chemical bath we'd found her in and I let her cry for a few minutes before reaching back and opening the ramp again. Dr. Endicott came rushing up, followed by Rogue. "Come on, Izzy. Go with Rogue and the doctor here and get you checked out ok? We'll find you a room, you can rest for a few days then decide what you want to do."

She nodded and let the other two women escort her off the jet. As soon as they were clear, Logan came bounding up the ramp. "Are you all right? I heard screamin'."

"Yeah, I'm fine. She picked a hell of a time to come out of it, but she didn't hurt me." I sat heavily in one of the seats and ran my fingers through my hair. "I think she's like Kyro, only she has a half-lizard form. Don't know if she has a full animal form or not."

"I don't care 'bout any o' that. She didn't hurt you?"

"No, I think she's more scared than anything right now. Thought we were just another bunch of people out to use her."

"You find out anythin' else?"

"Just her name, Isabel – Izzy. She can't remember her last name, not that I'm overly surprised about that. They either have another strong telepath working for them or they came up with another way to strip memories."

He swore softly. "Think she'll be all right?"

"Yeah, eventually. I'm pretty sure some of the soldiers on base were abusing her. They were talking about getting a piece of me when they had me back." He started growling and I gave him a hard shake. "Hey, it's over now, they're dead."

"Like to kill 'em again."

"Me too, but I think they'll agree that once was enough." He took my hand and helped me up from my seat. "But there's more where they came from, we have time."

"True enough." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and steered me off the jet. "C'mon, I'm tired. Let's go to bed."

"Those are two concepts that don't work together, lover. If we go to bed, there won't be much sleeping."

"Sure there will," he replied with a grin, "eventually."

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We took a five week break from our personal vendetta to help the kids prepare for finals, which were a little over a month and a half away. We had plenty of kids ready to advance providing they passed their exams and still wanted to be X-Men, while those who weren't on a team were as prepared for the world as we could make them. All of them knew they'd always have a home with us at the mansion, but more than a few of them had said they'd rather try and make it out there, even with FOH and other groups still causing problems all over the place. There were even a couple toying with the idea of starting careers in politics, with the thinking that if a mutant or two could hold some kind of office, it would help to facilitate the changes we all knew the world needed to go through before we'd all be shiny happy people doing who the fuck knows what. I've been around too long to believe it'll ever happen, but Hank's continuing research into the increase in mutant births still showed that more were born every year. He even speculated that at their current rate of growth, mutant births would outnumber normal human births within twenty years. That might sound like a long time, but considering that only a century ago one could count the number of active mutants on both hands, it was astonishing. There had to be a reason for it, but we were damned if we knew what it could be.

Isabel had been abused on the base and because of that, she was given a room near the teachers. That way, if she had a nightmare or any other problems, there were at least eight adult females within shouting distance that could come to her aid. We scoured missing persons reports for anyone matching her description and came up empty, so either her parents had never reported it or they were dead. I personally thought it was the latter, since the Weapon X people never had much of a moral compass as far as I could tell and keeping their secret was their number one priority. If I wasn't hell bent on killing them all, I would have leaked the info I had to the press ages ago, but that would mean admitting things about myself that I was just not willing to do at the time. I was still a bit uncomfortable being over a century old, it would only be worse if the whole world knew. No, our way was better, no need to prove anything to anyone, no need to explain.

Isabel took an instant liking to Jubilee, who took the frightened girl under her wing so to speak. She rarely went anywhere in the mansion without the firecracker somewhere nearby. It also seemed that any boy over the age of about twelve scared the daylights out of her, so it wasn't really possible to get her into any classes right away. Storm gave her one of the Xavier School entrance exams and she tested right out of just about everything, but Izzy had this look in her eye at times that reminded me of the look I saw in the mirror every day, that she would eventually want to get a little of her own back from the people who hurt her. If that was the case, she'd have to take strategy and defense training at the very least, which meant dealing with Logan, Piotr and gods only know how many other men on a daily basis. Well, she'd have the whole summer to get used to everyone, so hopefully she'd start trusting more people in that time.

When exam week finally hit, the tension in the mansion was almost palpable. It wasn't uncommon to find groups of kids holed up in the library or sprawled all over the lounge, doing last-minute cram sessions. A few of the kids were worried about failing their defense exam and got caught out on the back lawn sparring in the middle of the night. Logan was furious and told them if they were so hot to fight, they could take the exam right then, an idea that had no appeal to the students in question. They sheepishly made their way back to their beds, but Logan didn't forget about the incident and rumor had it that their exam was brutal. I saw the boys in question later that day, Sunfire and Thunderbird, and they didn't appear to have any permanent damage, although they were both limping and Sunfire had a gorgeous black eye. However, both boys were also grinning, so I guessed that meant they passed.

The beginning of summer heralded more than just students going home to their families and the quieting of the mansion. I felt it as the beginning of the countdown. Evie would be nine in August and if her dream was still accurate, that meant we had a little over a year before it came true. I hadn't caught much of the details, like the weather outside, so I'm not sure what time of year it took place in, but best case scenario gave us about two years before it happened. Unless I was completely off and they were planning on coming any time now. Either way, time was running out and I could feel it.

It was with this in mind that I took Logan aside to discuss our options. We went into the woods across the stream, where students weren't allowed to go, and I climbed into the sheltering branches of an oak. Logan followed me without a word, knowing that I always did my best thinking up in trees. Once we were settled, smokes lit, I found that it was harder to begin this conversation than I thought it would be. After a few minutes, he poked me in the leg. "It's a great view, darlin', really. But I'm sure that ain't why ya brought me up here."

"No, it's not." I replied. "I've been thinking about Evie's dream, about the bad men coming to get her. If it's still accurate, that could happen any time between now and two years from now."

"Yeah, I know." He took a drag on his cigar and closed his eyes. "She hasn't said anythin' about it changin' to me, unless she stopped havin' it."

"Well, we have to assume that it's still accurate and that means we need to have a plan in place to get her the hell out of here."

"I agree." I whipped my head around, shocked at that. Last time we'd talked about it at all, he was completely against it. "What, I can't change my mind?"

"Who are you and what have you done with the real Logan?" I asked, smirking.

"Smartass." He flicked the ash off his cigar and his face became serious again. "It was after that last base, where we found Izzy. She's so young, not that much older'n Evie'll be when the 'bad men' come. I looked at her an' saw my own little girl in that tube. I don't want that, I don't wanna think about it. So, I don't want her here or anywhere near here when – IF – they come."

"Well, I have an idea, but you won't like it."

"What's that?"

I took a deep breath and crushed my smoke out on the trunk of the oak. "I figure she'll be safe enough with Rogue and Sam. They're her gods-parents, after all. You know Storm and Remy'll want to go with them. If we have even a suspicion that the 'bad men' are on the way, they'll take her in Blackbird Three, stop by Ricky's in Detroit for some cash and go somewhere far away. They can send the jet back on autopilot and set it to erase the flight logs from the computer just before it lands."

"Why would they wanna do that? How are we supposed to know…oh." He gazed off into the distance, then stubbed his cigar out and stuffed it into a pocket. "We're not supposed to know. No one is, so no one can find 'em."

I nodded and pulled my knees up to my chest, hugging them tight. "They probably have telepaths, so we can't chance _anyone_ knowing where they'll be."

"Wish there was some way to figure out why they want her in the first place. There ain't no way they know she's a precog."

"No, probably not. They're probably hoping she'll be the perfect combination of me and you. You know, your senses, my nine lives, your healing factor, my agility."

"We don't know if she'll get any o' that."

"Not yet. We won't know unless she hasn't developed anything by the time she's about sixteen. She's already pretty graceful, though, so I'm thinking the agility's already there."

He nodded. "But we'll worry 'bout that later. So, you wanna have this in place soon? Be ready for anythin' at any time?"

"Yeah, I do. I know it'll suck for the school to lose the four of them, but better that than the alternative." He nodded and I took another deep breath. Now for the part I hadn't told him before, an idea I'd been turning around in my head for a couple days. "So, we'll talk to the four of them later, tell Evie about it so she can be ready too. But there's more."

"Why do I get the feelin' I ain't gonna like this?"

"You're not." I looked him square in the eyes. "Logan, if they come and we get her away, we'll have to stop them."

"I know. Nothin' wrong with that."

"Yeah well, that's not all. Once they're gone, we have them out of here…Logan, we have to go back."

"Back where?" He growled, his fists clenched.

"To Weapon X. We'll give ourselves up to them on the condition that they leave Evie alone."

"No fuckin' way!" He shouted and I could see the tips of his claws straining between his knuckles. "I ain't goin' back to them, never!"

"Logan, hear me out!" I cried. "We'll give ourselves up to them, no questions asked, no conditioning or retraining needed. We'll regain their trust and once we do, we'll take it down from within." He was still glaring at me, but I didn't back down. "We can have the Professor give us a kind of telepathic trigger, something that will bring us right back to ourselves with the right code phrase. He's good enough to bury it so deep that no one can find it."

"Angela, how can you even _consider_ doin' this? After everythin' they did to us, did to _Emma_?"

"I know!" I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Logan, I know. Face it, trying to find the Director from the outside is getting us nowhere. But if we give ourselves up, they'll think they've finally beaten us, _broken_ us. They'll think we've given up and come to terms with the fact that we're nothing but the weapons they want us to be."

"An' what if the first thing they want us to do is come back here an' take out the mansion, huh? What then?"

"Every person in this house knows how to beat us, we train them to beat us. We'll tell the Professor to put in new escape routes _after_ we leave, so we can't cover all the bases there. I'll make sure he takes out all of our access codes, voice prints, whatever so that we can't get into the Danger Room if they use it as a shelter. And we'll have Buzz and Sage do a complete redesign of the security array so we won't know where everything is anymore. There are plenty of things they can do that we won't be able to anticipate. They'll be as safe as we can make them, all things considered." I put my hands over his, caressed his knuckles in an attempt to get his claws to relax back into his arms. "Logan, I know it's risky and gods only know what they'll do to us when we go back. But we're the best they ever had, they know it and they know that _we_ know they know that. The Director might be an evil bastard, but he's no fool and he'd never throw away assets like us."

"You know if we go back, they'll make us kill for 'em again, anyone they want dead, they'll send us an' we'll have to do it."

"I know. But I don't see where we have a lot of choice here! We've taken out how many facilities, how many people? And they're still there, still grabbing whoever they want and turning them into weapons! It has to stop and we're running out of options." I gripped his hands tight. "This is our best hope of getting them once and for all."

He jerked his hands out of mine and pulled away from me. "I can't believe this. You're really thinkin' about this, aren't you?" He shook his head in disbelief. "No, I won't do it. I won't go back. I'll go into hidin' with Evie before I do that."

I looked down, tears brimming in my eyes. "It's your choice to make, Logan. But my mind is made up. If they come for her and she's not here, if we beat them back and drive them away, I'm going back. Alone if I have to."

His disbelief grew and he scowled at me. "No way. I'll kill you myself and take you outta here before I let you go back to that."

"I'm not giving you a vote, I'm telling you how it is. Believe me, if I had another way, I'd tell you. I'm tired, Logan. I'm tired of doing it one base at a time, one body at a time and it's never the body we want to see. I'm tired of waiting. We know they reactivated Project Prodigal, Bennington told us that much eight years ago. What are they waiting for? Why haven't they come for us? They have to know we live here, that we're part of the X-Men. We're sitting ducks, so why haven't they come?"

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I dunno, maybe they're waitin' to train up a coupla operatives strong enough to take us out."

"No, that's not it and you know it." I leaned forward and chanced touching him again, and he didn't pull away. "They've been waiting for Evie to be old enough to force her mutations to manifest, brainwash her and send her back to kill_ us_. The one guy in the dream said as much to me. Project Prodigal isn't just about getting us _back_, it's about getting back _at_ us." He looked at our hands, but didn't say anything. "Think about it, what is the one thing, the _worst_ thing they could do to break us?"

"But if we're sendin' her away, they won't get the chance!"

"And they won't stop looking for her either, you know that. How long did they look for us? How much of their money are we walking around with inside us every day? If we give ourselves up, they won't _need_ her."

"Angela, you know what we were like back then. Cold, heartless killers, more animal than human an' you're sittin' there tellin' me you _want_ to go back to that."

The threatening tears finally spilled over and left hot trails on my cheeks. "I don't _want_ to, Logan! But if we really want to protect the people we love, we're gonna _have_ to."

His eyes softened a little and he reached over to brush away my tears with a gentle thumb. "Darlin', I know what you're thinkin' and why you're thinkin' it, but you don't know what you're askin' me to do. We still got plenty o' time before Evie's dream might come true, plenty o' time to take 'em out."

"And what if we don't? What if we fail?"

"We'll worry 'bout that if it happens, all right? But I don't wanna hear anythin' else 'bout goin' back to them."

I nodded, but I didn't say anything because he would know I was lying. I didn't have proof, just paranoia and suspicion, but I had become desperate. We hadn't stopped them, just driven them to their hidey-holes all over the world, let them consolidate and ultimately prepare for our inevitable arrival. "Logan, I'm sorry. I just don't know what else to do."

"I know, darlin', but goin' back to that isn't the answer." He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. "We'll find another way."

"Ok." I looked up and smiled weakly through my tears. "You're right, I know you are. I'm just…oh, I don't know what I am."

"You're a worried mom. Crazy decisions come with the territory."

I smacked him lightly. "Oh, you're just impossible!"

"Yeah, I am, but ya love me anyway."

"Gods only know why." I leaned forward and kissed him.

"I ask myself the same thing every day, ya know. Crazy ideas an' all, I love you more'n my own life, but I still don't know why ya love me back."

"It's purely chemical, really. Maybe a touch of adamantium poisoning made me delusional when I saw you all those years ago."

"Sounds 'bout right." He grinned and kissed me again. "C'mon, let's go talk to Sam an' Rogue. _That_ part o' your idea still makes sense."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I was correct when I thought that Storm and Remy would insist on going along with their respective partners if Evie's dream came true and they had to leave the mansion with my daughter. In fact, Storm wouldn't even hear one word from me about how the other kids at the school needed her more than just my girl. "Angela, back when you first arrived I would have agreed with anything you're about to say. But there are more than enough teachers here now who are more than capable of protecting the school and you are partially responsible for that. It's not like we'll be gone forever, just until we know everyone is safe."

"You do know that could be several days or even weeks, considering the people we're dealing with." I pointed out.

"We know, mon ami." Remy said. "An' if it look like we will be gone more den a few days, we will send Sam an' 'Ro home. Marie an' Remy will find a new place to hide out an' only come back if Charles say it safe to come back."

Marie nodded in agreement. "We'll set somethin' up with Buzz, a special address or a mail drop or somethin', so you can get word to us when it's ok to come back."

I was unexpectedly touched by their understanding, even though I should have expected it. They were some of the finest people I had ever met in my entire life, even Remy with his annoying charm. "Thank you all, so much. I know I don't have the right to ask you to do this for us…"

"Oh, stop that!" Ororo said as she pulled me into a hug. "I was there when that little angel came into the world, remember? I'll keep protecting her for as long as you need me to."

Logan stood up and shook Sam and Remy's hands. "Thanks guys, it means the world to us. We owe ya one."

"Ah, mon ami, it is no big ting." Remy replied with a grin. "You know Remy do anyting for Rogue's family."

"Besides, I'm looking at this as a way of repaying you for wearing a tux for me." Sam said with a wink. "So we'll call it even for us."

Logan grimaced and I laughed. I felt a bit of a weight lift from my shoulders, knowing that we'd done everything we could to keep our daughter safe. Now to do the same for the rest of the world. As we walked back to our suite, I looked up at my lover, my eyes serious. "Well, now that we've done that, I suppose it's time to get back to work."

"Yeah, I s'pose it is." He replied. "Where we gonna go next?"

"Doesn't matter. The result'll be the same. They'll be dead and we'll be a little closer to taking them out." We reached our door but I stopped him before he could open it. "Logan, I just wanted to say sorry for all that stuff I said earlier, about going back."

"It's ok, tiger," he said, "I already told ya, I understand why you were thinkin' that. You're worried, gettin' desperate an' it makes ya think crazy things." He looked down and wouldn't meet my eyes. "I'd be lyin' if I told ya it hadn't crossed my mind before too."

My eyes widened in surprise. "What? When?"

"Just after North Korea, actually. Kept dreamin' 'bout the cages they kept those kids in, 'cept when I got to 'em, it was always Evie in there with a bunch o' probes stickin' outta her. Started thinkin' that if they had me back, just me, maybe they'd leave the two of ya alone. But the thought o' leavin' you was worse'n the thought of what might happen if I didn't, so I didn't."

"How come you never told me?"

He shrugged and looked up at me. "I dunno, guess once I decided not to, it didn't seem important."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Just knowing he'd entertained the same crazy notions made me feel so much better about it. "Well, I suppose it's too late to be mad at you about that."

"More'n likely."

I wrapped my arms around him and stood up my tiptoes to kiss his neck. "I'll let you get away with it this time. But next time, talk to me about it, k?"

"It's a deal." He buried his hand in my hair and kissed me so hard it left me breathless. He broke away just before I was sure I would pass out. "So, ready for bed?"

I looked at the door, then back at him. "Nah, not so much." He quirked his eyebrow and I started backing away from him towards the stairs. "Meet you outside." I whispered, then turned and ran silently down the stairs, knowing he'd follow me in a few minutes. After everything I'd gone through that day, I didn't want to be behind walls. I left my shoes at the door and took off across the grounds, letting the night air wash over me. I had everything I needed for the moment out here; the moon, the wind, the woods and my lover. Everything else could wait.

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**AN take two!:** This chapter is dedicated to several people, who have done things i consider nothing short of miraculous...to the doctors and nurses and St. Vincent's hospital, for healing my fiancee from an illness that is quite frequently fatal...thanks are not enough. To my sister, my best friend, my best beta reader Turiel Tincdaniel, for holding my hand over AIM and on the cell phone through many tears and tough days...i love you sis! To Dee (MidLifeCrisis), for helping me understand the things that were happening over the past month and a half and for telling me to just update already, it'll make me feel better...chica, you were right! To my daughter, for letting me cry on HER shoulder when things looked so bad i didn't think they'd ever get better...you're my world and i love you more than my own life. And finally, to Zac...neither one of us is perfect and gods only know i'm not an easy woman to love, but i thank those same gods every day that you do...we made it through this together and we're stronger because of it...and now we can start working on the rest of our lives...i love you baby, my own private superhero...i'm yours forever.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

(Logan)

The summer passed much the same as the summers before, except that fewer kids were staying here full-time these days. It had taken nearly ten years and in spite of the anti-mutant groups that seemed to crop up every day, mutants were still gaining acceptance amongst the rest of the population. Part of that was because the government finally released a statement that their own research showed the same thing Hank had known for years; mutant births were on the rise. For several weeks, every newscast featured an interview with some expert or another that confirmed the government report. Once that happened, more than half the students that would normally stay over the summer received surprise calls and letters from parents asking them to come home, sometimes for the first time in years. It was no surprise that some of them were skeptical or downright hostile about going home, but with the help of Xavier and the rest of the staff, they all decided to at least give it a try. I had my doubts about the whole thing, but none of the kids came home til it was time for school to start, so I guess that shows what _I_ know.

Kyro, Angela and I hit a few more bases over that summer, but we still didn't get the one guy we wanted more than anyone. We did manage to get another one of the few big brains that had actually survived our escape from Alkali Lake all those years ago, but he didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. Buzz and Sage were still analyzing all the data we'd collected, but again there was nothing new. There were hints here and there about the project to clone me, along with something called "Project Phoenix", but there were few details about that in the files we'd confiscated to date. So, although our jaunts made us feel better, they really didn't bring us any closer to the resolution we all so desperately wanted.

A little less than three weeks before school started back up, Evie turned nine. The good news was she didn't have her party at that damned noise factory. The bad news was her mutation coming into full-blown power. In and of itself, it wasn't a bad thing, but the circumstances made for a scary couple of days for her. It all started four days after her birthday. She woke up like any other day and came bounding into our room, leaping on the bed between Angela and me and demanding we get up. Angela grumbled and pulled the pillow over her head, complaining that she simply never had that much energy, while I just laughed and grabbed my girl for a tickle fight. It lasted all of two seconds before she went pale, screamed and passed out in my arms. Angela and I immediately freaked out; I gathered Evie into my arms and I ran with her down to the infirmary, sending the strongest thoughts I could in the Professor's general direction, while Angela pounded on Hank's door to wake him and get him downstairs as soon as fucking possible.

I have to give the furball credit, he made it down there only a few seconds after me. I already had my girl settled on the examination table, holding her hand and whispering to her to just wake up when he came in. He checked her vitals, drew some blood and hooked her up to a bunch of monitors, while I just stood there and held my little angel's hand. "Logan, could you tell me what happened, please?" He asked as he fitted a blood pressure cuff to her arm.

"I dunno, Blue." I said as Angela came up beside me. I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close, while Hank continued to poke and prod at my little girl. I explained everything I remembered, but since there wasn't much it didn't take too long. About a minute later, Xavier came in and positioned himself near Evie's head and closed his eyes. Angela and I held our breath as we waited for the diagnosis. I had all kinds of things going through my head, none of them good and all of them sure to bring out the Wolverine quicker than anything. After an eternity, Hank and Charles excused themselves for a private conference, leaving us alone with our daughter. She looked so tiny, lying there with things attached to her head and chest, the monitors beeping and tracing lines I couldn't interpret over their screens. Angela moved to the other side of the table and gently ran a finger down Evie's cheek and I could smell the anxiety pouring off her. I looked over and smiled weakly, but Angela looked ready to kill me. "What?"

"That's it?" Angela said, glaring up at me. "That's all that happened? You tickled her for two seconds and now she's here looking like she's two steps from dead?"

"Angela, I swear that's all." She looked at me blankly, her mouth set in a thin line, but I didn't have anything else to give her. I looked away, not knowing what else to do. "I _swear_."

"That's it? She didn't hit her head or, I don't know, hit _your_ head?" I shook my head and she looked back down. "Then tell me why she's laying here like this. Tell me what's wrong with my daughter."

"I believe we can do that." The Professor said as he glided across the floor from Hank's office, followed by Hank.

"All of her blood work came back normal," Hank began, consulting the chart in his hands, "as well as her EKG and EEG. After consulting with Charles, I believe an MRI or any other further testing will not be necessary."

"So what happened?" Angela asked, a tremor in her voice.

Charles took a deep breath and looked us in the eye. "Her mutation came into full manifestation today."

We both looked at him in confusion. "Dahell you talkin' 'bout Chuck?" I asked. "Her mutation manifested years ago."

"No, her mutation _partially_ manifested." He settled himself back near Evie's head. "Before I explain anything else, I must ask you to please stop touching her, you're making it worse."

I dropped my daughter's hand and Angela snatched hers away as though Evie's forehead had burned her. "Worse?" She asked, a note of hysteria creeping into her voice. "How the hell are we making it worse?"

"If you recall, we were exploring the possibilities that her power may have been enhanced through touch." We nodded, remembering how she'd fainted after holding Angela's hand the night we brought her back dead from a mission. "We have been unable to recreate what happened to her last winter in our sessions and I have been under the impression it was sheer emotion that facilitated that particular incident. However, it seems I wasn't entirely correct in that assumption."

"So, what's going on now?"

"I still believe it was emotion that allowed her to learn what she learned through the physical contact she had with Angela that night, so I had assumed that would always be the case. But from what Hank and I have determined through our examination, it would seem that psychometry is most likely her primary mutation and her flashes of precognition have always been related to touch."

"How does that explain her dreams?" I asked. "The 'bad men', the one 'bout Angela dyin'?"

"Logan, you have to understand that precognition and psychometry are fairly uncommon psychic mutations. I can not rule out the possibility that she will occasionally receive precognitive flashes or dreams with no catalyst to cause them, but I am certain that it was her mutation that caused her to faint today, which is why I asked you to stop touching her."

I felt the color drain from my face. "Professor, what did she see?" I whispered, fearing the answer.

He looked at me sympathetically. "From what I saw in her mind during my initial examination…Logan, she relived what happened to you during the adamantium bonding process in the space of a heartbeat and her mind simply shut down."

Angela's hand flew to her mouth and she turned away, tears in her eyes and I sat down heavily in the chair next to the exam table. "No, God no." I lowered my head, staring at my hands and was surprised when a tear splashed between my knuckles right where the fucking claws come out. "Jesus Christ, what have I done?"

"Listen to me, Logan," Hank said as he placed a hand on my shoulder, "this is _not_ your fault. You had no way of knowing."

I sprang from my chair and faced off with the doc. "NOT MY FAULT?" I shouted. "If not mine, then whose? She's my _daughter_ an' I put her into a fuckin' coma by _touchin'_ her!"

"Logan, please calm down and just listen," he said calmly, "I promise, this will all make sense in a moment."

"Calm down? How can I do that when I don't even know if I'll ever be able to hug my own daughter ever again? Brush her hair? Give her a god damn kiss goodnight?" I looked at my hands again and for the millionth time I cursed myself and the men who had made me into this thing that I am. "I shoulda known this was all too good to be true. Everything I touch just turns to shit."

"Logan, that's not true!" Angela cried and rushed over to me. Tears still streamed down her face as she reached out to me, but I flinched and pulled away from her. "Without you, I wouldn't have had anything to live for all those years we were apart. I wouldn't have met these wonderful people, become a super hero." Her eyes pleaded with me, but I just scowled at her and took a step back. "I wouldn't have this beautiful daughter if it wasn't for you."

"Maybe you'd both be better off without me." I whispered, my heart breaking. "You'd all be better off without me."

"No Logan, I wouldn't. Neither would Evie. We _need_ you, do you understand that?"

"No darlin', I don't. How can you say that when our daughter is layin' there like that because of me?"

"It's not because of you, Logan," Hank spat, "and if you would stop feeling sorry for yourself for one minute, I would explain that to you." I shifted my glare to him, but he didn't seem impressed. "Now, as Charles and I were trying to explain, her mutation came into full manifestation some time within the past twenty-four hours. It's likely even she didn't know this had happened, so there was no way for anyone to guard against this." He placed his hand on my arm again and steered me back to the chair I had vacated earlier. "Now, even though psychometry works through touch, it is still a psychic mutation and because of that, it's possible to teach her to shield herself from unwanted visions."

"So she'll be able to control it?" I asked, my anger starting to fade a bit.

"Eventually, yes." Xavier replied. "Like with any other gift, the training will take time." He closed his eyes and bent over my daughter's head, his hands positioned on either side. "I know how this looks to you, but Evie is just fine. I'm explaining to her that what she saw didn't happen to her, that it's ok to wake up, that she's safe." He grew quiet and the atmosphere in the infirmary grew so tense, the hair on my arms was standing up. After a few minutes, Evie's eyes fluttered open and the Professor barely managed to get out of her way as she sat up with a gasp.

"Mommy!" She shouted and burst into tears. Angela wrapped her arms around her, taking care to avoid any contact with her bare skin. "It was like a bad dream but I was awake and it was happening to Daddy! What happened to Daddy?"

"Shh, Evie it's all right, it's fine." Angela soothed. "It was a long time ago, he's ok now." She turned so Evie could see me sitting there. "See? Daddy's just fine."

"Hey princess." I said and reached out to stroke her back. "Don't you worry 'bout what you saw, ok?"

"Daddy, they hurt you so much, like fire on your bones." She whispered. "Is that where your claws come from?"

"No, I always had claws, angel. When they put the metal in me, it covered my claws too and made them the way they are."

"Why'd they do that?"

I shook my head, not knowing what to say and looked at Angela. "Well honey, it's kind of hard to explain." She said.

"But why would people want to hurt other people like that on purpose? Daddy's already really strong an' stuff, so why did they need to put metal in him?"

"To make him stronger, make it so his bones can't break." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "They did it to me too, Evie, just not on my claws. And I guess they did it because they wanted to see if they could."

"That's not a very good reason." Evie said, so matter-of-fact I couldn't help but smirk. "You always told me to have a good reason for doing stuff an' I _know_ you wouldn't let me get away with anythin' with _that_ for a reason."

We all chuckled at that. "Not everyone is as smart as you are, princess." I said. "An' well, some people are just bad all the time."

"But you don't have to worry about them, sweetie," Angela added, "they're gone now, they're not coming back."

"But they are, Mommy." Evie said, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. "They are comin' back. They're gonna come here an' take me away."

I looked at Angela in alarm. Nothing we'd done over the years had changed that? And what had my little girl seen in my memory? "You still dreamin' 'bout the bad men?"

Evie shook her head. "No, not a dream. I saw them, Daddy, saw them in your head. Those are the men who come for me."

Angela cleared her throat and patted Evie on the shoulder. "Honey, I know that dream scared you a lot, but those men can't come after you. When me and your Daddy got away from them, well…we killed almost all of them. We got the others later. So those men can't come for you."

"Not all of them, but there's one there in Daddy's head an' he's the one who comes for me with all the bad men."

Was she talking about the Director? Had he been there that day we got away and we missed him? I closed my eyes and called up the memory myself, something I had never really done for obvious reasons. But no matter how hard I looked, how I tried to focus on something other than what was happening to me, all I could see were the hazmat suits, the needles, the blood. Once I was out of the tank, I wasn't looking for anyone specific, I just wanted to hurt everyone who had hurt me. I opened my eyes and looked at my little girl, and I felt the animal inside me stir again. "Princess, do you know when they're gonna come?"

She shook her head and sniffled, "Not really. It's warm out, but not summer warm. An' all the other kids are here, but most of them get away." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her tears drying on her cheeks. "But it's all different now, cuz they're comin' for me, but I'm already gone when they get here with Aunt Rogue an' Uncle Atlas, but I dunno where they take me." She gave Angela and me a suspicious look. "Are you an' Mommy gonna send me away?"

"She's your daughter." Angela said under her breath, then smiled at Evie. "Yeah honey, we are, but only if the bad men come. We don't want anything to happen to you, so we asked your Aunt and Uncle to take you away until it's safe to come back again."

"But I wanna stay with you!"

"We know, princess," I said, "but you're the most important thing in our life an' we don't want the bad men to get to you. An' you never know, maybe somethin'll happen before then an' they'll never come. But even if they do come, you ain't gonna be gone forever." I stood up and wrapped my arms around both of my girls. "We can't live without ya, punkin, you'll be home soon as it's safe."

She nodded and I kissed the top of her head. We stayed like that for a long moment, until Evie started to squirm. "Daddy, you're suffuffocating me." I chuckled and stepped back. "Can we have breakfast now?"

"Sure thing, princess. You go ahead with your mom an' I'll be up in a little bit." I watched the two of them leave, then turned to Xavier and Hank. "So, what'd ya make o' that?"

"My primary concern is teaching her to control her gift." The Professor said. "Previously, we had little success and I believe that's because it hadn't fully manifested. Now that it has and we know what we're dealing with, we'll be able to teach her how to use it as a matter of will."

"But what about now? What do we do now? We can't touch her an' I'm sure there's plenty o' secrets hidin' in every corner o' this house."

"I think it would be best if she were to wear gloves at the least." Hank said. "I know, it's not an ideal situation, but until she does get it under her control, it's best to protect her for the time being." He leaned on the table and looked at me intently. "I know it won't be easy for you, but try not to touch her exposed skin. It is possible that she'll catch glimpses from any contact, not just through her hands."

I swore softly. "That ain't gonna be easy, for any of us."

"I know. But she's young, in perfect health and we've already taught her the rudiments of controlling her gift. Now that we have more information, we'll be able to do more and she has no bad habits to unlearn."

"Are you sure? Cuz Remy's still the only person who can touch Rogue an' you've been workin' with her for how many years now?"

"Rogue's power is much different." Xavier said. "For all that it resembles a psychic power in many ways, it is primarily a physical power. The major difference between Rogue and your daughter is that Evie's power is purely psychic, physical contact simply amplifies it. By teaching her how to access the power only when she wants to use it will eventually allow her to touch people and things with no risk of seeing things she doesn't want to see."

"But her dreams will likely continue." Hank added. "The few precogs I spoke to in the underground all those years ago, for all that they each had their own ways of using their power consciously, were all united in their insistence that dreams were always the source of their most accurate visions. It is very unlikely that we'll be able to teach her to prevent visions in her sleep."

"We'll worry 'bout that if we have to." I let out a sigh and ran my fingers through my hair. "I trust ya both, you know that. Just help my little girl, ok? Do what ya gotta do, but help her."

"That was never up to question, Logan." Xavier smiled and thumbed the control on his chair. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I would also like to have some breakfast."

I watched him go and Hank came up and clapped me on the back. "Congratulations, Logan. If the tests we did earlier are any indication, you've managed to produce the strongest precog I've ever heard of."

"Lucky me." I snorted. "Can't even give her a hug."

"It's temporary, I assure you. She'll have this under her control before you know it. And once that happens, we'll help her refine it, make it so she can move within the visions, control her point of view, see details that may seem irrelevant at first but make all the difference in the end."

"That's possible?"

"Oh yes, absolutely. In fact, there's no reason for us to discount anything where she's concerned. As we've said before, precogs are the rarest of psychic mutants. Those I've had contact with have told me that it usually gives them a vague impression of the future, like a gut feeling with pictures or brief flashes except in the most extreme of circumstances. Evie's dream of the 'bad men' and the one she had of Angela's death support that. However, none of the precogs I've spoken to ever said anything about having psychometry as well. It may turn out that by using the two together, she'll be able to receive detailed visions, even in her waking hours."

"But you don't know for sure."

He shook his head. "No, I don't. She may only get brief flashes moments before something happens, unless they come to her in her dreams. We won't know for some time. Her power will grow as she grows and so will her control. We may not know the upper limits of her power until she's in her twenties." He checked his watch and smiled at me. "But this is all speculation on my part and as a physician, I'm more interested in facts. So, we'll take this a day at a time, teach her the control she needs now and let the rest fall into place on its own. Now, if I'm not mistaken, it's pancake day and the students are most likely eating our share."

I smiled weakly and we left the infirmary, but I was still worried about my girl. It had been bad enough when she was seeing horror in her future, but now she'd seen part of the horror in my past. How much more horror would she see before she had this under her control? But the part that hurt me the most was the knowledge that I couldn't protect her from that horror, no matter how much I wanted to or how hard I tried.

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**AN:** For the record, the word "suffuffocating" is spelled that way on purpose...i think my own daughter was almost 11 before she could say it correctly...hell, i'm 38 and still can't say "Worcestershire" (or however the hell you spell that)...at any rate, i wanted to clear that up before i got fifteleven reviews on how i spelled that wrong...:) Special thanks go out to the usual suspects, including Ineluctability and theNightEnchantress for reviewing...who knows? Maybe i'll update again in a few days...anything's possible...:)

**But, we all know the best way to get an earlier update out of me is for someone NEW to review! So, if you've never reviewed before, please give it a go! Just hit the button and say hello or something, that's good enough for me...:)**


	19. Chapter 19

**SPECIAL NOTE:** Everyone can thank **TnTornado** for timing her review so that it came right after i updated, to force a new chapter sooner...:) Thanks for the review, here's your reward...enjoy!

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Chapter 19

(Angela)

The week following Evie's full manifestation was a tense one for all of us. Logan, Kyro and I cancelled our next planned mission because we felt it was best if Evie had both of her parents there for her in case she needed us. Charles did something I'd never seen him do before and exercised his full authority as the headmaster of the school, pulling Evie from all of her normal classes and having other members of the staff cover his own classes so he could work with her full-time on controlling her powers. I was startled by this, since I'd never seen him do this for any other student and I was on my way to ask him not to give my daughter special treatment when I was waylaid by Scott. "Angela, can I have a word with you?" He asked, steering me gently by the elbow to the lounge.

"I don't have time, Scott," I replied, "I'm on my way to see Charles."

"Actually, that's why I want to talk to you." He took a seat on the couch and gestured for me to join him. "He knew you were on the way to talk to him and asked me to explain for him."

"Allrighty then." I said, taking a seat. "Does he know how annoying it is that he always knows, well, everything?"

Scott laughed. "Yeah well, he says that you were projecting so loud it's surprising even the non-gifted couldn't hear you." He replied and I smiled. "But he wanted me to tell you that Evie's not the first student he's done this for."

"Really? And who else has gotten his undivided attention?"

He took a deep breath and a flicker of pain crossed his features. "When Jean first got here, her powers were pretty strong and she couldn't control them very well. If she got upset, stuff would fly all over the place and everyone could hear everything she was thinking. Did you know she manifested early too?" I shook my head. "She came into full power at about ten, when she witnessed her best friend killed by a hit-and-run accident. Granted, there were only about six or seven of us here at the time, but she still needed his undivided attention to get it under control."

"I had no idea." I whispered. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for a ten-year-old to see something like that and have her mutation come on fully manifested all at once. "It must have been terrible for her."

"It was. It took a while, but Charles taught her how to control it, how to shield her mind from unwanted thoughts and to keep her own thoughts from leaking out. It wasn't easy and there were days she wanted to kick his ass I'm sure, but she got it eventually."

"Did the Professor do anything to her?" I asked, a thought occurring to me.

"What do you mean?

"Well, a while back, he offered to block her powers telepathically, said he could set them up to erode over time, let her get used to her powers. Did he do that for Jean too?"

Scott frowned in thought, then shook his head. "No, not that I know of. If he did, they never told me about it. But I remember her saying that her powers were still growing, that she sometimes had trouble controlling her telepathy just before…well, you know all about what happened."

"Yeah, I do. You don't have to go there."

"No, it's all right. I mean, I miss her, everyone does, but I can talk about it now. She was my first real love, but she's gone and she's not coming back." I nodded and we sat there for a moment, then he took a deep breath and went on. "Anyway, we had a theory that all the changes in her powers were caused by Magneto's machine. Her telekinesis was almost unlimited, but her telepathy wasn't very strong. A few days after Liberty Island, she had trouble focusing, said everything was getting through, but even her telekinesis was getting out of hand. The Professor had some testing he wanted her to do, but then Stryker invaded and…"

"The rest is history." I finished for him. "Scott, you know that if it had been you that was the only one able to save them all, you'd be the one everyone mourned."

"I know, I know. And we've talked about that. But it's still sometimes hard to remember that part, no matter how happy I am now."

"I know." I gave his hand a quick squeeze and we smiled. "Now, I'm still gonna go talk to Charles about this. It's not fair to the other students, you know."

"Ah, but you assume I was done with my story." He replied with a smirk. "There was another student who came through here, a couple years after Jean showed up. She was a telepath too, had some trouble controlling it. By then, we had about thirty students and Erik was the only teacher besides Charles. But they both figured it was more important for her to learn control than it was for the Professor to keep teaching, so Erik taught everything while Charles helped the girl."

"I didn't know there'd ever been another strong telepath through here. Who is she?"

"Her name's Emma Frost." I felt myself go pale when I heard the name and Scott gave me an apologetic smile. "Yeah, I know. That's why we've never mentioned her. No one wanted to bring up bad memories for you. And well, she left here years ago and now she's in charge of her own school in Massachusetts."

"Thanks, I suppose." I murmured, looking down at my hands. I took a few seconds to compose myself, then looked back at Scott. "But you said she's another telepath. How do we know that any of his methods will even work for Evie?"

"Well, we don't," he admitted, "but the Professor has the best shot of anyone we know. And we still have the names from the underground of some of the other precogs, we can call one of them in if we have to." He leaned forward and took both of my hands. "Angela, I swear to you, this is the best thing for your daughter and Charles will do everything in his power to help her. This is nothing he wouldn't do for any other student here in the school, she's not getting any kind of special treatment because of who she is, only what she is."

"And what is that, Scott? What is she really?"

He took a deep breath and smiled. "She's probably the strongest psychic any of us have ever known. If she were telepathic, she'd be stronger than Charles." He gave my hands a squeeze and let go. "But don't worry, he'll teach her to control it, so it'll only work when she wants it to, all right? Just trust him."

"I already do. I guess I just wish there was more I could do for her myself."

"You are. The best teacher of psychic gifts on the planet is teaching her. Trust me, by the time this is over, she'll wish she had some other gift. She'll know how special she _isn't_ and might just curse the day he was born. He'll make her work hard for control and he won't stop until he's satisfied that she has it."

"Ok. I'll leave it alone then, for now." We stood up and I gave him a quick hug. "Thanks Scott."

"Anytime Angela. We owe you so much, both of you." He smiled again and went off to whatever class he had to teach at the moment. I was still a little concerned about all this special training, mostly because I didn't understand exactly what was going to happen, but I had to trust the Professor. He'd never do anything to hurt any of us, I've always been certain of that, but even after all that time it still didn't come easy.

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"Oh my head hurts, Mommy." Evie was complaining a few days later. Charles had been working with her six hours a day for about a week and already the change was amazing. Marie had loaned her a pair of gloves to wear and for the first few days she only took them off to bathe. Now, she could leave them off for up to an hour before her control got too shaky for her to trust touching things without them. Once they'd figured out how touch affected her gift, they started focusing purely on that aspect. Everything else, Charles had said, could wait.

"I know, sweetheart," I replied, "but before you know it, you'll be able to touch anything you want with the gloves off and won't that be nice?"

"Yeah, I know. But it still makes my head hurt." She looked out over the lawn where the other kids her age were playing and sighed. "Do I hafta go back after lunch?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid you do." She pouted and I laughed, gathering her into my lap. Nine years old and she was almost as tall as me. "But Uncle Charles says you're getting better at this every day. You keep doing this well and you'll be back in your regular classes before you know it."

"Oh." She sat there thoughtfully for a minute, then looked at me with a cheeky grin. "I think I might start having trouble with learning about my powers."

"You are absolutely _not_ allowed to do that!" I said and she started laughing. We sat there for a few more minutes before the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch hour. "Ok Evie, time for you to go back."

"This sucks." She pouted, but gave me a quick kiss on the cheek anyway. "See ya later Mommy."

"Be good." I waved as she disappeared back into the mansion, then sat back down heavily. I didn't know exactly what they were doing in their sessions and Hank assured me that there was no real way to explain it that would make much sense to a non-psychic. The best he'd been able to do was compare it to building a wall inside her head that had a series of doors in it, so she could open whatever door she needed to get the amount of power she wanted, from a tiny trickle to a huge flood. He was right, I didn't get it and wasn't sure I wanted to. Then again, I have a wild animal inside me, almost rabid in its own way that I had to learn how to cage until I wanted it to come out. But it's different for people like me, Logan and Kyro. Either the animal is out or it's not, there is no middle ground.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Kyro standing there. I smiled and patted the grass next to me and he took the seat with a smile. "Logan-san said I might find you out here." He said.

"Logan is very wise in the ways of me." I replied. "Delta team has a strategy practical today and if their in-class solutions are any indication, we'll be in there until at least dinnertime. I've already told all the others not to expect them for afternoon classes."

"Are they really that bad? I can not imagine they would not know what is expected of them after all this time."

"Oh yeah, they're that bad." I shifted so my back was leaning against the low wall behind me. "I think the problem is that only two of those kids lived here when Stryker invaded, so they don't have a basis of comparison. I never thought I'd miss the days of Julian slacking off and Jamie trying to send copies to class so he could sleep in."

Kyro laughed. "Ah, but if things stayed always the same, you would have grown bored long ago and left this place, yes?"

"Yeah, probably," I admitted with a grimace, "except that this place needs me too damn much to just take off."

"I have been thinking much about that lately and I have wondered if perhaps there are too many of us here."

"The hell you talking about Kyro?"

He sighed and looked me in the eyes. "When first I came here, I had other motives. The Professor and Logan-san helped me to learn what was me and what had been put into me and I knew my motives were not correct. Now, you and Logan-san teach the children to defend themselves, to strategize, to protect others and all I do is teach them to speak Japanese. Logan-san could do that just as easily as I. Perhaps it is time for me to go and see what there is out there for me."

"Kyro, where is this coming from? I thought you loved being here."

"I do, Angela, it is the best home I have had since my own was taken from me. I have done as much as I could to regain my honor, but there are times I think perhaps I have not done enough." He shook his head and looked down. "I am confused, Angela and I do not know what to do about it."

"Is it Chasca?" I asked and his head snapped up. "Is there something going on between you two?"

"No! I promise, Chasca and I are doing just fine. This is something in me that feels unsettled, as though there is something I should be doing and have forgotten."

"Kyro, listen to me. We need you here as much as you need to be here. The kids love you, you fill in for me or Logan whenever we're off doing something else and gods only know you've got as much reason to bring down Weapon X as he and I do." I took his hand in mine and leaned forward. "Look, there was a time when seeing your back would have made me the happiest woman on the planet, but that wasn't _you._ It was something that was done to you. You swore yourself to my side, to protect me and whatever I hold dear at the cost of your own life if need be. There's something coming, something that Evie saw and she made me see it, too. People are going to come and try to take her away. We've already got a plan in place to keep that part from happening, but I'm pretty sure those men are still going to come here and try. We _need_ you here to stop them."

"And after that, what? I am not nearly as old as you and Logan-san, yet the gift we have will most certainly make it so I do live much longer than those I love. I wish to see the world with Chasca before the day comes I must let her go, because I will go on when she can not." He stood, pulling me to my feet and bowed low. "You have the wisdom of over a century. Compared to you, I am but a child taking his first steps. I will not abandon you or your quest to avenge the wrongs done to us, for that would dishonor my vow to you. But the day will come when that quest is over and when it does, I will go into the world with my love and see what there is to see. And one day, I will return and perhaps be a better man because of it."

"Kyro, you couldn't possibly be a better man than you already are. I do understand what you want to do and you don't need my blessing or my permission to do it. I only ask that you wait until we see if Evie's future holds true."

"You have my word." He bowed again and quietly took his leave. I watched as he walked back inside, still marveling that after all this time, he still felt like he had to make something up to me. I understood his desire to regain his honor in his own eyes, but he'd already done that a thousand times over in mine. I just hoped that once this was all over and he'd seen the world he wanted to see, he would come back and realize that for himself.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Another week went by and the Professor had Logan and I meet him in the study for an update on Evie's progress. Once we were settled in – Logan near the window and the ashtray, me on the sofa with a cup of tea – he opened a folder, looked at us and smiled. "I know there is no reason to tell you that you have a most remarkable daughter." He began.

"Hell, we knew that ages ago, Chuck." Logan quipped, tapping the ash from his cigar. "You coulda just asked us an' saved yourself all this trouble."

Xavier chuckled, but the smile stayed on his face. "Logan, your little jokes aside, what I have to say here is very likely the most important thing you'll need to know about her." He looked down at the file again before continuing. "As you both know, Genevieve began to manifest her mutation very early. We have reason to believe that it was active prior to birth, as evidenced by dreams that Angela had during pregnancy, as well as the anecdotal evidence of similar situations during her previous pregnancy."

"Charles, with all due respect, can you please get to the point?" I asked with a touch of impatience.

"Very well." He said with a slight nod. "Dr. McCoy wanted me to explain a system of classifications he's come up with to describe the varied degrees of mutant power. A Class One, or Alpha-level mutant has abilities that are slightly above those of other lower-level mutants; enhanced strength or agility, a healing factor, energy manipulation, things of that nature. The two of you would be considered Class One, due to your enhanced senses and healing in addition to your physical mutations. At the other end of this spectrum are Class Five, or Omega-level mutants, whose powers are without any discernible limits. I consider myself supremely lucky to have met three Omega-level mutants in my lifetime."

"And who would those be?" Logan asked.

"Joshua Foley, Robert Drake and Jean Grey." Logan dropped his cigar and I just stared. I had no idea that we'd known anyone that powerful, much less that two of them had actually been students of mine. "I know, it's astonishing."

"So are you tryin' to tell us that Evie's Omega-level too?"

"No, I'm not. By our reckoning, Evie is a Class Four, or Epsilon-level mutant. In our sessions, she has been able to tell me things from my childhood relating to objects I've given her to hold, things that I have never told anyone before. However, after consulting with several of the precogs from the underground, we are unable to determine how far into the future she will be able to see with any accuracy."

"Why's that?" I asked, sipping my rapidly cooling tea.

"It is a common misconception that time is a fixed, linear thing. It is actually quite fluid and can be changed by seemingly minor occurrences at any time. For example, the decision you made over ten years ago to stop in Angela's bar for a drink rather than another on the same street took both of your lives in a direction neither one of you could have foreseen." Logan nodded, looking thoughtful and I just continued to sip tea. "So the future can change at any time, for any reason no matter how small. Evie may be strong enough to see many different outcomes with equal clarity, but it is doubtful that she'll be able to predict everything with complete accuracy."

"So what makes her a Class Four then?"

"It's her ability to see into the past by touching an object or person. I have never personally met anyone with her particular gift, which should tell you how rare it really is, and the only gift that comes close to it is clairvoyance, which is limited to knowledge of what is occurring as it occurs."

"Sounds pretty useless." Logan snorted.

"On the contrary, it can be quite useful. Imagine how much easier it would have been to find the Master Mold if we only had someone here who could have looked at the schematic and told you exactly where it was. Or who could have found Erik prior to the DC Metro incident simply by holding a photograph of him." Logan looked away and chewed on the end of his cigar. "As I was saying, clairvoyance is the only thing close to it and that is almost as rare as psychometry. But in addition to catching residual images and thoughts by touching an object, Evie can see the entire history of an object, all the way back to its creation. I imagine the same would hold true for when she touches a person, hence the incident a couple weeks ago when she caught the image of the bonding process from you, Logan."

"So you're tellin' me she coulda seen a lot more if she'd held on longer?"

"Yes. In time, I believe she'll be able to use her gift as a means of getting information from reluctant witnesses, crime scenes, the possibilities are endless."

"Whoa, wait a minute here Chuck. Ain't you supposed to be teachin' her all kinds o' ethics about her power? How's she gonna do all that an' still keep it all on the up an' up?"

"The same way a telepath would, with a person's permission. Of course, at a crime scene, she need only touch inanimate objects, which naturally have no rights to violate."

We sat there in silence for a moment, contemplating everything he'd told us. I was a little surprised that her power was already so strong, at such a young age. But if I understood the things I'd been told about Jean, powers that manifest early tend to be stronger sooner. "So, how's she doing on control?" I asked.

"Remarkably well, considering that she's only been working on it for about two weeks. If she continues to progress at this rate, I believe she'll be able to do without the gloves inside of six months, eight at the most."

I breathed a sigh of relief, a feeling that was reflected on Logan's face. "What about the other stuff, her dreams?" He asked.

"That, I'm not so sure about. Since dreams are controlled by the unconscious mind, it is unlikely we'll be able to do anything about blocking out only the precognitive ones. To be perfectly honest, I don't think we should even try."

"How come?"

"Her dreams seem to be the source of her most accurate visions to date. In my opinion, this is because her mind uses them to interpret information she receives in regards to events that may not be changed significantly by things that happen in the present."

I sat forward in alarm. "Wait a second here. Are you saying that the mansion_ will_ be invaded again? That there's nothing we can do to stop it?"

The Professor's mouth thinned to a grim line and his eyes lost a bit of their usual sparkle. "Yes, I'm afraid that is exactly what I'm saying."

Logan cursed and ground out his cigar as though it offended him, while I just lowered my head to my hands. Here was the one thing we were the most afraid of, confirmed once and for all. The mansion _would_ be invaded. Everything we'd done was in vain. Weapon X was coming for my daughter.

* * *

**AN:** See? I told you all i'd update as soon as i get a new reviewer...:) Ok, i'm not sure what TIME the review came in, but the update should make it just in time to be on the same day...:) So, special thanks to TnTornado and theNightEnchantress for the reviews, they are always appreciated...:) And all the thanks to all the other usual suspects as well...:)

**Now that you have PROOF that the update will happen, what's stopping you from getting the update out sooner? Only YOU can make it happen, by clicking that little button that says "go" and saying hello...:)**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

(Logan)

_"Logan, look out!" You hear Angela scream as the two of you dive for cover, barely making it as a missile explodes, taking out a chunk of wall near where you'd been standing. Bullets fly all around, tracers making bright lines in the darkness that sting your eyes. "What the fuck is going on?" She shouts over the din._

_"I don't know!" You reply, fury bubbling in your chest. "Did Rogue and Atlas get Evie out ok?"_

_"As far as I know!" She replies, ducking as another rocket explodes, scattering shrapnel over you. "Where are the rest of the teams?"_

_"Beta's in front, keepin' 'em busy with strike an' runs, Polaris is doin' her best to keep the big ordnance out of it. Delta's on the roof tryin' to keep their choppers busy. Alpha One is in back, Alpha Two is tryin' to outflank 'em and we're in here."_

_"Where's Gamma?"_

_"Danger Room with the rest of the kids we couldn't get out in time." You look at her with a touch of fear. You knew this day was coming, even if you'd hoped something would change enough to stop it. "Darlin', I have to go outside an' give Alpha One a hand. You get to the coms and check on Blackbird Three."_

_"Logan, I'm not leaving you!" She cries, grabbing your hand._

_"Damn it, you have to! She's more important than either of us. Just go, I'll be fine!"_

_"I…" The words catch in her throat as she looks at you, sudden tears spilling from her eyes. "I love you." She finally manages to whisper._

_You look down at her and your expression softens for a moment. "I know, darlin'. I love you too." You grab her and kiss her hard enough to bruise her lips. "Now get outta here an' find the damn jet! I'll find you, no matter where you go. I'll find you. I promise."_

_She nods and reaches out to stroke your cheek one last time. You smile briefly, then your expression hardens as you look over the remains of the wall and your claws pop out with a "snikt". With a roar of primal rage, you throw yourself out of your scant cover and disappear into the night. You throw yourself at the nearest knot of attackers, a couple of them looking barely old enough to shave much less be part of a military action of any kind. But age doesn't matter when it comes to the enemy and you cut them down quickly before they have a chance to react to your sudden presence. A series of loud "thumps" echo across the grounds and you look up in time to see a sight you'd hoped you'd never see again; three stories tall, a red light pouring from its eyes that's really a high-tech sensor. A Sentinel._

_You rush across the lawn towards the one person who can help you the most right now, Colossus. He's fighting side by side with the love of his life, Shadowcat, the only person you know who may be more invulnerable to harm than you are. It's damned hard to kill someone who's essentially a ghost all the time, keeping herself tangible purely by an act of will. Your claws slash out to the sides as you run, killing enemies as they come to bear. Bullets pepper your flesh, but you ignore the pain as best as you can. You finally reach your destination. "Tin Man! I need a Special, now!" You shout over the deafening noise of battle and the massive Russian turns and grabs you by the back of your jacket. He winds up and throws you as hard as he can at the incoming robot, and as you fly towards it, its mechanical voice booms in the night._

_"Mutant DNA detected. Code name Wolverine, enhanced natural weaponry, accelerated healing, heightened senses. Extremely dangerous. Terminate on sight." Well, isn't that just a peach? They know who you are. You smile as you impact with the Sentinel's head, even as you sense that it's powering up for something. Your claws flash forward once, twice, three times and the face splits open, revealing the inner workings this thing calls a brain. You continue to slash at the wiring until finally, you feel it begin to fall forward. Just before it hits the ground, you push yourself off the thing and roll out of the way, springing to your feet and looking for something else to attack._

_You find yourself disappointed. This was the only Sentinel they had with them and the remaining soldiers are retreating in droves. You lunge forward, intending to follow them, but the Professor's voice in your head stops you in your tracks. 'Logan, please come to the infirmary immediately. Angela has been badly injured and Hank swears that she's only holding on long enough to talk to you.'_

_'What?' You send back mentally, even as your feet are carrying you towards the house, dodging holes the size of Buicks and piles of debris that may have been vehicles at some point. 'How bad is she?'_

_'Hank says it's no worse than the last time she was shot, so she'll come back just fine. But she swears she has a message for you.'_

_You jump through the patio doors, shattered in the melee and nearly run over a knot of students that you absently note as being part of Beta team. They scatter in front of you and you keep running until you hit the stairs to the lower level. 'Almost there, tell her to hang on.'_

_'Hurry, Logan. I don't think she has much longer.'_

_No matter what they say, you're always convinced that _this_ time is the time she won't come back. She can take bruises, lacerations, even some gunshots and heal up from them in a few hours' time. But serious gunshots and deep stab wounds are beyond her abilities and you know in your soul that there will come a day when her nine lives will decide that it's had enough. You make it to the bottom of the stairs and rush headlong down the hallway to the infirmary. The doors open and you skid to a halt at what you see before you._

_Lying on one of the examination tables is Angela, a hole in her chest large enough to put your fist in. You can barely hear Hank as he tells you that it actually missed her heart, but she's losing blood fast and he simply hasn't got the time to stop it. You push the blue furry mutant aside and grip your lover's hand. "Hey tiger, what'd I tell you 'bout keepin' your head down all those years ago?"_

_"Well, you know me." She replies weakly, blood staining her lips. She gasps in pain and pulls you down, her lips brushing your ear. "They didn't find her. She got away. But they have something else, someONE else."_

_"Who, darlin'? Who did they take?"_

_"Not who they took, who they have." Her grip on your shirt loosens and her hand falls away. "Phoenix, they called her Phoenix, but it was Jea…" Her voice fails her and she dies._

_A tear slides down your cheek as you gently close her eyes. You run a fingertip down the side of her face, then lean over and kiss her on the forehead. "Come back to me tomorrow, darlin'," you whisper, "I can't live without ya." You look up at the other two men here with you with a scowl. "Did you hear what she said? DID YOU?"_

_"Yes Logan, we did." Hank replies, his eyes wide with shock._

_"Phoenix. They called it 'Project Phoenix' in the files, but never gave it another name." You curse under your breath, your mind going back to a talk you had with your woman so many months ago, a conversation where you swore there would never be a reason good enough to make you go back to Weapon X so long as your daughter was safe. You were wrong. "Damn it, Chuck, they cloned Jean."_

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I woke up with a shout, my claws out and sprang from the bed. It took me a minute to realize that Angela had done the same thing, but there was nothing in the room to see. I took a couple of breaths in an attempt to calm myself, when a sound from the other room broke through my sleep-addled brain. "Evie!" I cried and lunged for the door.

She was tangled in her blankets, tears rolling down her cheeks and whimpering something in her sleep. Angela and I were at her side in a flash, murmuring softly and trying to wake her up, but as soon as we touched her, she shouted "NO!" and sat bolt upright. She looked around, but it seemed as though she was still caught in the grip of her dream and I realized that it was the same nightmare I'd just had. Probably the same one Angela had too.

"Princess, wake up." I said softly, reaching out and taking her hand. "C'mon, Mommy an' Daddy are here."

A shudder ran through her body and she relaxed a bit. "D-daddy?" She whispered fearfully.

"Yeah punkin, Daddy's here." I replied and she threw herself into our arms. We both consoled her as she sobbed, the three of us sitting there in a tight huddle. After about fifteen minutes, she calmed down and looked at us. "You ok honey?"

"The bad men are coming." She stated plainly and I looked at her in alarm.

"Right now?" Angela asked, a frantic look in her eye.

"No, not today. But soon, they'll be here real soon."

"Evie, tell me what you saw."

"It was dark out an' I remember it was right after dinner. I was sittin' with Wendy an' Seth an' Simon, but I knew the bad men were close by. So I yelled for you an' Daddy an' told you about it an' you went to tell everyone but Daddy picked me up an' took me to the jet. Aunt Marie an' Uncle Atlas came right after with Uncle Remy an' Aunt 'Roro an' they took me away. But I could still see the bad men comin' to the school an' they had a big robot with them an' a bunch of weapons, like I was still in the school but I wasn't. Then everythin' got really confusin' an' I could see you an' Daddy an' what was happenin' with you both, but I wasn't really there cuz I was still on the jet." She hiccupped and another huge tear ran down her face as she looked at me. "Then the one bad man that was after me got mad when I was gone an' found Mommy an' shot her while you was cuttin' the robot up. The bad man looked at Mommy an' told her that she couldn't hide me forever cuz Phoenix could find me no matter what. Then a pretty girl with red hair came out an' smiled but it wasn't a nice smile. She looked at Mommy like she hates her an' then the bad man got a message on his radio that the robot was dead an' they left. Uncle Kyro found Mommy an' carried her downstairs to Uncle Hank, but she was dyin'. But Mommy had to tell you somethin' before she did an' you got there just in time." She wiped her eyes with sleeve and sighed. "Daddy, who's Jean anyway?"

"She was a friend, an X-Man, but she died savin' a bunch o' us from a big flood." I said with a touch of sadness.

"But she was there, I saw her!"

"I know, princess. I think the bad men have a way makin' a new one."

She nodded and another tear splashed down on her hand. "Can I sleep with you guys?"

"Of course sweetheart." Angela said and I lifted her up. She wrapped her little arms around my neck and I carried her into our room, settling her in the bed in between us. Angela and I both turned so we were facing her and we wrapped our arms around her, kissing her softly on her forehead. She was asleep in a few minutes, but it didn't come back so easily for us. "The dream changed." Angela whispered and I nodded. "We can't stop them from coming, but at least we know Evie gets away."

"But for how long?" I asked quietly. "If they cloned Jean, they have a telepath that's stronger than Chuck. She could probably find her without Cerebro to help."

"We'll have to find a way to shield her from telepathic scanning."

"Yeah, but how?"

"We'll have to ask the only person we know of that's ever done it."

Oh hell no. "Darlin', you can't be serious."

"I am." She murmured. "We'll have to send someone to talk to Magneto."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"From what you've told me, I think we'll be safe at least until spring." Xavier said. We were in his office having a private breakfast to discuss Evie's dream. "You said the trees were not in full leaf, yet they hadn't changed color, so I think it's a safe assumption."

"Well, you know what they say when you assume somethin'." I replied.

The Professor smiled. "Yes Logan, I do. However, with that one detail I believe it's all right just this once. But I will make certain to double the watch in the security center and have Buzz give the security system a thorough overhaul."

"What about the rest of it?" Angela asked, her breakfast untouched but sipping her third cup of coffee. "I know what I saw. I am absolutely certain that was Jean."

"You said she appeared to be about thirteen or fourteen years old?" Angela nodded. "From what we've gleaned from the files you've taken over the past few years, we already know that they've successfully cloned at least one person as a means of perfecting the process so they could clone Logan. It seems that person was Jean and why not? We never recovered her body from Alkali Lake, but with the incident involving Scott and Sam up there, we do know they were still monitoring the facility. It would not surprise me if they recovered her body and used it for their experiments."

"You know we can't tell Scott about this, right? He'll go ballistic."

"Agreed. But I can't in good conscience keep him out of this. It would be worse for him to discover this on his own."

"So whattaya wanna do 'bout this?" I asked, shoving my own plate aside. With all of this so new in my mind, my appetite was shot. "They're comin', we can't stop 'em, so we need a plan."

"The safety of this school is my number one priority and that includes every student and faculty member in here. You outlined your plan to get Evie away, which I approve of wholeheartedly, but we'll have to evacuate the rest of the students at the same time."

"If what we saw in Evie's dream is right, they don't all get out. We know there's a bunch in the Danger Room."

"We'll simply have to make sure that Buzz is in there as well."

"For what?"

"As soon as those doors close, he will be instructed to delete all access codes and scramble the locks until I personally give him the go-ahead to open the door."

Angela and I nodded, then I leaned forward and took a deep breath. Now for the part I wasn't sure how to bring up, mostly because I didn't know how my woman would react. "Chuck, clone or no clone, we can't leave Jean there."

Angela choked on a mouthful of coffee. "Excuse me?"

"He's right, Angela." Xavier said. "Jean Grey was one of the only Class Five mutants I've ever known. Her power was without limit as far as I could tell, still growing stronger long after most mutants have achieved the peak of their abilities. If this Phoenix is as strong as the Jean Grey I knew, she would be a powerful weapon in their hands."

"But Charles, it's not Jean. It looks like her, has her powers, but it _isn't_ her." I detected a note of something in her voice and scent that I wasn't accustomed to - jealousy. My woman was jealous of a thirteen-year-old girl. "She doesn't have Jean's memories or knowledge, she's a thing they created like they created me and Logan and Kyro."

"Are you suggesting we simply leave her there?" Angela looked away. "Whether or not Phoenix is our Jean Grey is irrelevant. She's a child and she's being used by the same people who _used_ you and Logan and Kyro. Would you really consign her to the same fate because of who she was created from?"

She sighed. "No, I wouldn't." She looked back at me and her expression was unreadable. "I just want to make sure that everyone and I do mean _everyone_ understands that this Phoenix is not Jean."

"Dontcha think I _know_ that?" I spat, suddenly angry. "I let her go a long time ago darlin', in the woods somewhere in Pennsylvania. I love _you_ an' nothin' an' _nobody_ can ever change that."

"Look, I just know how easy it is to be fooled by your eyes. Or do I have to remind you about a certain story I heard about a tent and Mystique?"

I looked away, clenching my jaw and took a couple deep breaths to calm down. "That was an intense night for everyone. An' you weren't there anyway, you don't know what it was like."

"Which is neither here nor there." Xavier interjected. "We have other things to worry about, first and foremost being the implementation of extra security measures. The two of you can fight about this later. I believe the Danger Room will be free after three o' clock."

"Right." I said and shot a look at Angela. Oh, we would definitely fight about this later. "So, let's call Buzz up here an' start workin' on the updates for the security system…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Around four-thirty, Angela and I were lying in sweaty heaps on the floor of the Danger Room. I had a nice set of claw marks healing up across my chest and face, while she had a pretty good gash across her left thigh that had thankfully missed anything major in the blood vessel department, but it had to hurt like hell. To anyone that didn't know us, it would look like we were both the abusers in an abusive relationship, but it's really not like that. When the animal takes control, the "hunt, mate, kill" instincts are the strongest. Combine that with the anger we both felt – mine because Angela was jealous of a dead woman who might be a child now, hers because Jean was Jean in her mind – and there's really only one way to work it out. We don't fight often, but when we do it's usually pretty...colorful.

I raised my head off the floor to look over to where Angela was laying; her hands clamped over the cut in her leg and sighed. "So, are you done yet or ya just waitin' to get your second wind?"

"I'm done." She replied, her voice strained. "I'm sorry Logan. It's just…you get this look on your face whenever Jean comes up, this look in your eyes. I know that you're mine forever, but I can't help but think you regret not trying harder to get her away from Scott."

Ouch. Yeah, that hit kinda close to home. I sat up and scowled. "It wasn't up to me, darlin', it was always her choice. Yeah, I wanted her to know she had options an' that I should be one of 'em, but she made her decision."

"And she died before anyone got to find out if it was the right one." She sat up with a grimace and stripped off her shirt to hold over her leg. "And where would I be if she'd chosen you? Maybe Detroit, maybe somewhere else. Maybe I'd have seen you on the news one day, playing superhero and wishing like hell that was me on your arm. Sure, I could just bide my time, wait it out til she died, because she would and I know I'll be here longer. Or maybe the possessive bitch in me would have hunted you down and told you everything you wanted to know about your past, including the part where you swore you'd always love me."

"Angela, none o' that happened. She made her choice to leave the plane. I made mine to leave the mansion, to cross in Detroit instead of Buffalo, to walk into your bar. You're the one always sayin' that everythin' happens for a reason, even if it don't make sense at the time. Jean did what she did for her reasons an' we'll never know what those were. But I have no idea why I didn't cross in Buffalo, I always do. Somethin' drew me to Detroit an' if you wanna call it fate or destiny or just blind fuckin' luck, I don't care." I ran my fingers through my hair and stood. "But I ain't gonna sit here an' listen to you goin' on 'bout shit that never happened an' never will."

"Logan, I…"

I cut her off. "No, don't apologize, don't tell me how sorry you are. Jean's _dead_ an' even if those bastards got some clone o' her, it _ain't her_." I stalked out of there and to the showers, locking the door behind me. I turned the water on as hot as I could stand it and let it pound over my body, focusing all of my senses inward until the only thing I could hear was the water and the sound of my own breathing, the only scents I detected were those that were in the shower with me. If Angela tried to come in and join me, I never knew. Sure, everything I told her was true. Jean was dead, no clone would ever be the Jean I knew, I had never been the one that Jean wanted or loved. But I was keeping things from my woman, like the part where Jean would always have a place in my heart, even if she wasn't there to fill it. Losing her had been the hardest thing that had happened to me, at least that I could remember at that time. Since then, I'd remembered plenty that was much worse, but Jean was still the most immediate and thinking about her still hurt.

Angela was jealous of dead woman, but could I really blame her? I love my mate with all my heart and soul, there can never be another woman for me. But the ghost of Jean still hung around the school, even after all this time. Scott tended to get depressed around certain days, like her birthday, the day they would have married. We both got more than a little touchy on the anniversary of her death, but so did Storm, Kurt, Hank and the Professor. There were still pictures of her in some of the halls and Hank had never had the heart to get rid of her lab coat with her name embroidered on it. As the cooling water poured over my skin and I finally started to calm down, I wondered how much of this whole thing might actually be my fault, if Angela was picking up on my lingering feelings for someone I'd never had to begin with. She knows I'm completely devoted to her and my daughter, I am certain of this. Which is what made this irrational behavior all the more puzzling to me.

Finally, the water got too cold for my liking and I switched it off. I stepped out of the shower and took my time drying off, then pulled on one of the thousands of Xavier School sweat suits that are always lying around. I went back upstairs just as slowly, still going over everything in my head. Was it me? Was it all her? Were we both crazy? Scratch that, of course we were. Students and faculty alike moved out of my way as I went back to the suite. I was about to fling the door open when I caught a strange scent coming from inside the room. It wasn't a bad smell, just unusual. I opened the door slowly and my jaw hit the floor.

I must have been in the shower longer than I thought, because Angela had transformed our room into something I'd only seen on TV shows. White candles stood on every available surface, unscented of course. The scent I'd picked up came from a small dish on the windowsill that held incense that smelled of vanilla and sandalwood. A bottle of wine and two glasses sat on the headboard and a tray with finger foods sat in the middle of the bed. Curled around the tray, looking like a very self-satisfied cat that had just gotten away with something was Angela, clad in a red silk robe.

"You wouldn't let me say it earlier, so I thought I'd just show you." She purred. I stepped inside and closed the door softly behind me. "Everyone who lives within three rooms of us agreed to move until tomorrow morning. Evie's with Sam and Storm."

"Angela, you didn't have to…"

She cut me off. "Yes, I did. I'm being irrational and it's not fair to you. So here we are, an entire wing to ourselves until tomorrow morning." She slid carefully off the bed and crossed over to me. "So, come join me so we can make up, ok?"

I nodded, wrapped my arms around her and leaned down to kiss her. She led me over to the bed and we made up until the wee hours of the morning. In the end, it didn't matter if it was me or her or Jean's ghost. I have Angela, she has me and we have Evie. We didn't need anything else.

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**AN:** Well, i spoke too soon it would seem...my fiancee is BACK in the hospital...same shit, different week...but i'm almost out of vacation days and i have precious little to keep me awake at work, so i should be able to update a bit more regularly...i'm gonna try to get a couple chapters posted per week, but i make NO promises...also, my deepest apologies to **TnTornado**, who is a HE not a SHE...i'm so sorry!! Special thanks to all the usual suspects, with an extra burst of good mojo to Zac to hurry up and get better FOR REAL THIS TIME...at the rate you're going, they'll have to rename the hospital after you!

**Now for the normal reminder that if i get even ONE new reviewer, then EVERYONE gets a new chapter as soon as i read the review! You don't even have to say anything more than "hello", so what are you waiting for?**


	21. Interlude and Chapter 21

**Special Note:** Big thanks to **writestyle** for taking the plunge and reviewing...:) So, here's the upate as promised...:)

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Interlude: The Visit

She took a deep breath before getting out of the car. She knew why she was here, why they chose her to do this, but it didn't mean she had to like it. She'd only been in the man's presence twice before and both times had ultimately been very traumatizing for her. The first had been Liberty Island, when he hooked her up to his damned machine and tried to use her to destroy the lives of dozens of dignitaries from around the world. The second had been Alkali Lake, where he'd first saved their lives only to turn around and try to destroy the humans at the risk of the Professor's life. She brushed the snow-white locks behind her ears, her souvenir from Liberty Island. She turned to her lover, who gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Don' worry, mon cherie. Dis will be fine, Remy promise."

"I know." Marie replied. "I just wish it could be someone else."

"Remy understand. But Logan an' Angela needed someone who would get what dey need even if de man won' talk. Dat be you."

Marie nodded, then checked herself once more in the mirror. Finally satisfied, she tapped the driver on the shoulder. "Ok Scott, I'm ready to go in now."

Twenty minutes later, after the guards were all satisfied that Rogue had no metal on her, they led her into the plastic prison that had been redesigned with Magneto in mind. Many had argued for, DEMANDED, Magneto's execution after the DC Metro incident, but the government ultimately decided that imprisonment was the best route. After all, Magneto still had many followers out there and the last thing in the world they wanted to do was turn him into a martyr. The guard led her into the cell, then left her alone with the man who'd once tried to kill her.

"Ah, Miss D'Ancanto," he said pleasantly, as though he'd invited her over for tea. "I'm surprised to see you here. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I'm here for Logan," she said simply and sat down in the only other chair in the cell. "He woulda come himself, except for his skeleton."

"Yes, I could see where they wouldn't allow that." He smiled and took the other chair. "So, what does the mighty Wolverine need that he can only get from me?"

"We need to know how your helmet blocks telepathy."

"And why would I tell you that, my dear? It is the only thing that kept me free for as long as I was. I'm sure it's the only thing keeping Mystique hidden as well."

"Don't bullshit me, Lensherr. This ain't about you or Mystique or any of the idiots who follow you. This is for Logan's daughter."

"He has a daughter? How interesting." He didn't even attempt to hide his amusement. "And who would ever be desperate enough to settle for that animal long enough to actually reproduce with him?"

Marie let out a hiss and pulled off a glove. "Listen, I ain't gonna spar with you, old man. You either tell me how it works or I'll take it from you. Either way, I'm gonna find out." She pulled off her other glove and stuffed them both in her pocket. "I'm givin' you a chance to do somethin' for all the right reasons for a change. Don't blow it."

He sighed, but kept a wary eye on her now-bare hands. "Before I explain this to you, tell me one thing."

She rolled her eyes. "What?"

"Why does he want to know?"

Now for the part she was dreading. Angela and Logan had both told her to tell him everything, even if it seemed like a stupid thing to do. After all, this was _Magneto_ they were talking about. If he knew that Weapon X was still this active after all this time, it would only give him another reason to attempt another escape. But it was also the only thing that might make him give up the information they needed. "Logan's daughter is a precog. She keeps havin' visions of people comin' to the mansion, like Stryker did. We have a plan to get her outta there before they arrive, but we're afraid they may have telepaths of their own and we wanna make sure they can't pick up on her."

"Ah, another attempt by humans to make slaves of your students." He leaned forward with a knowing smirk on his face. "But what aren't you telling me?"

"They come to the mansion to take his daughter. They're from Weapon X."

Erik's eyes widened and he sat back in his chair. "So it didn't die with Stryker after all." He murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully. After a long moment, he looked back at Marie. "And you want me to tell you how to protect this girl from their pet telepaths?" Rogue nodded. "And if I refuse, you'll take it from me anyway."

She nodded again. "Only I can't promise I'll let go in time. Lots of things have changed since the last time. I can hold on a little while, get some of your power and your memories. Or I can hold on a lot longer, keep your powers and you'll probably die. I can't say that the second option doesn't sound good to me, because it does. But the Professor still thinks there's hope for you and I don't want you to be a martyr any more than the rest of the people keepin' you here." She stood up and leaned over the table, channeling her inner Wolverine. "But I _owe_ you, Lensherr, for what you tried to make me do, for tryin' to kill me. I might not get you today, but if you ever get outta here, I'll be waitin' for you." She held up her hands as though to grab his face. "So what's it gonna be, old man?"

Erik's eyes were wide with fear as he leaned as far away from her as he could. "Please child, cover your hands. I'll tell you what you need to know."

She took her gloves out of her pocket and made a great show of pulling them back on before sitting back down. Once she was settled, she folded her hands demurely on the table in front of her and gave him her sweetest smile. "Talk."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 21

(Angela)

Marie came back from her visit with Magneto unscathed, but pissed off that she didn't get to use her power on him. For his sake, I hope he doesn't get out. I know our Rogue will be waiting for him at the gate with her gloves off. Hell, I'll give her a ride and wait for her until she's done. Not that she needs any more powers, but for Lensherr I'll make an exception.

It turns out that Erik's helmet is made of an alloy of his own invention, something he created using his powers alone. We only had one person who might be able to help us recreate the alloy, in the form of Polaris. Her powers were similar to Magneto's, except that she could only manipulate ferrous metals. At least one of the metals used in this alloy of Lensherr's was non-ferrous, which would have been a problem were it not for the twins, Seth and Simon. Between the three of them, they managed to figure out how to create this alloy. The tricky part was figuring out what to do with it.

"First off, we should re-skin Blackbird Three." Scott said. We were sitting in Hank's lab downstairs, which he said we could use for this project. "We never use it unless we absolutely have to and now that we don't have to hide from anyone when we go out, there's no reason to worry about it being picked up on radar."

"That's great for the short term," Logan replied, chewing on a cigar, "but that ain't gonna help 'em when they get where they're goin'."

"And where would that be, anyway?"

"Don't know, don't wanna know." He took the cigar out of his mouth and inspected the end. "That's the whole point, Scooter. What's the sense of 'em hidin' if everyone an' their dog knows where they are?"

"True. Well, we can't expect the five of them to wear helmets all the time." He leaned back in his chair and took off his sunglasses to rub his eyes. Naturally, he kept his eyes closed, but it always took me by surprise to see him without the ubiquitous shades. For the first time since I've known him, I wondered what color his eyes were. Hell, he probably wondered the same thing. After a moment, he sighed and slipped the glasses back on. "Any idea how thick it has to be for it to remain effective?"

"Not right offhand." I said, looking over the complex formula Rogue had gotten for us. Looked like Sanskrit, but I had to do something to keep my hands busy. "You have an idea?"

"Wherever they go, it's unlikely they'll be leaving it for any length of time, at least until they get the all-clear from Buzz. If we can make it thin enough, maybe they can take enough of it with them to…I don't know, put it on the roof or something?"

I chewed thoughtfully on one of my claws. "Well, we know that Simon can make it as thin as we want it to be. We'll just have to test it out."

"Ok. We'll get to that tomorrow then." The three of us stood up. "Hey, I just want you guys to know that I understand why you're doing all of this for Evie, even if it will take four of our best away from us."

Logan quirked an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? That mean you understand all o' it or just the gettin' Evie outta here part?"

"All of it." He sighed and looked Logan in the eye. "I'm not a killer. I'll never _be_ a killer. But you also don't let a rabid dog go to bite you in the ass later. You take it out and remove the threat. We're lucky they never got wind of Kyle or Rahne in all this time and I hate to think of what would happen if they did. Much as I might hate the part where you guys have killed I don't even know how many people over the years, I hate the thought of them getting a hold of anyone else even more. You saved Hea and Jung, you tried to save those others a few months back when you saved Izzy. You've probably saved other lives too, people they would have gotten if you hadn't done what you did."

Logan and I both smirked and I crossed my arms. "Scott Summers, are you admitting that you might have been wrong?"

"What? No! I mean…well…maybe I was a little hasty all those years ago accusing you of killing people in cold blood for fun."

"Killin' people ain't fun, Cyke an' that's somethin' we've always tried to explain to ya." Logan took the cigar out of his mouth again and gripped Scott's shoulder. "Yeah, it's easy an' yeah, when it's someone who really deserves it, it is kinda fun. But mostly, it's somethin' we do cuz there ain't no other way. Someday, you'll be the one starin' down the barrel o' a gun an' you'll have to decide; do ya knock him down an' hope he don't get back up, or do ya take him out so ya KNOW he won't?"

"I hope it'll never come to that."

"Sorry Cyke, but Evie's already told us it will. Weapon X is comin'. You gonna be ready?"

He didn't say anything, so Logan and I left him to think about that. The future can never be completely avoided, even if we do change things in the present. I only hoped that when the time did come, he would do the right thing.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Within the month, we determined that it didn't matter how thin the metal was, it was still an effective means of blocking out telepathy. We had Simon form a bit of it into something that looked like a beanie, about the same thickness as a piece of tinfoil, that fit nicely inside a baseball cap and used Kurt as our test subject. Even with Cerebro, Charles couldn't locate the teleporter no matter where he went. The best part of that news was that we wouldn't need to make nearly as much of it as we originally thought. The alloy was not cheap to produce and since it was my daughter we were going to all this trouble for, I insisted on footing at least half the bill. The Professor tried to argue with me, but if there's one thing he's learned through the years, it's that my mind can _not_ be changed once it's made up. So, we paid for enough of the stuff to make several sheets that could be rolled up and stored in a fairly small space. The other advantage was that it wasn't very heavy, so it would be no hardship for them to wear baseball caps with this stuff lining them. Why Magneto had to wear that retarded looking helmet is something I'll never understand as long as I'm alive.

Another good thing that came of the project was a weapon for Remy. Since adamantium was one of the components of the alloy, we'd had to purchase a great deal of it. It simply wasn't the kind of metal you could just buy a few linear feet or cubic feet or whatever, you either bought a lot or you bought none. So, once we were done making what we hoped would be enough alloy for Sam and Marie to use once they got to wherever they were going, we had a bit of adamantium left. Simon could usually be found playing around with it in his spare time, just seeing what he could do with it. We were on the way to a Danger Room session to keep Alpha team in fighting form when Logan got an idea and made a detour to the lab. Sure enough, Simon was in there playing with the metal. "Hey kid, can you make me a little ball? 'Bout the size of a pinball?"

Simon shrugged. "Sure Logan." He concentrated for a bit and a glob separated from the solid chunk in front of him, landing on the table with a dull "clink". After a few more seconds, the glob formed itself into a perfect sphere. "There you go. What you want it for?"

"Gotta theory, I wanna test it out. Thanks kid." He shoved the ball in his pocket and we went back into the hallway.

"Uh, Logan, I'm officially confused." I said as I pulled on my gloves in the locker room. "Why do you want a ball of adamantium?"

"I got to thinkin' 'bout the Cajun. He's great with those cards o' his, but everythin' he charges blows up. If this shit's really indestructible, maybe we can get him somethin' he can use that won't explode, give him a chance if things get outta hand."

"Hm. So you're thinking an adamantium pinball is the answer?"

"Not exactly. But if he can charge this an' it don't explode on contact, we can come up with somethin' else."

I shrugged and we went into the Danger Room together. Ninety minutes later, we had determined that no matter how much of a charge he put into it, Remy could not destroy that little ball. He was equally thrilled and upset about this development, because he was so used to everything blowing up that he'd gotten a bit cocky about it. On the other hand, now we could give him a weapon that he could use and not worry about having to replace it every few seconds. In the end, we had Simon fashion a staff out of adamantium for him. It was heavy enough to cause damage, even uncharged, but still light enough that it wouldn't be too unwieldy for him. Remy loved it and threw himself into staff training with Logan so he could master the weapon as quickly as possible.

The reason for it was plain. We hadn't told any of the students, not even the ones on Beta team, about Evie's vision. Stories still circulated around the mansion about the day Stryker had invaded, some of them exaggerated beyond belief ("There were hundreds of them and they killed three kids!" "Wolverine went nuts and almost gutted Iceman!"). The last thing we wanted to do was alarm any of them, so it was best that we went on with life as usual, as though nothing was wrong. We'd instructed Evie to tell no one and the reasons why, which she obeyed without question. She didn't want to scare any of her friends and she'd heard plenty of stories about Stryker's invasion. Coupled with her own visions (which were coming with increasing frequency and she continued to send to Logan and I somehow), sleepless nights were becoming the norm for us. Charles did his best to teach her to shield her mind from them even while she was sleeping, but he speculated that the best he'd be able to do for her was to teach her to simply wake up when a dream that frightened her started. In time, he hoped she would be able to recall where the dream let off, so she could go back and see what she missed at will. I just wanted her to stop screaming in the night, for her sake as well as mine and Logan's.

Fall came upon us in earnest and we all breathed a little easier. Since no one had invaded before the leaves started to change, but the weather still matched Evie's vision, we'd all been quite a bit on edge. As soon as the first tree turned to gold, the relaxation in the air was palpable. We knew we had at least a few months' respite until it came true, although I personally hoped it would be much longer, like a few years. I wasn't going to hold my breath, but I could hope.

Late one night in October, I was sitting in front of the fire in the study, the two Weapon X files in front of me. One was the original that Bennington had handed to us all those years ago. The other contained the papers relating to the bases we'd already destroyed. I was poring over them all, looking for the one detail I'd missed the other million times I'd been over them, the one clue that would tell me where the hell the Director was. He was the key to this whole thing, the stone that if we could knock it out would bring the rest of it falling down. I reached absently for the wineglass that stood on the rug next to me and drained the ruby liquid without really tasting it. Page after page, line after line, I scrutinized every paper, every photo, but nothing leapt off the page to give me a sudden burst of brilliant insight. Frustrated, I threw the wineglass into the fire.

"Those are expensive, you know." I heard behind me and whipped my head around. Charles simply sat there, a half-smile on his face. "Not that I'm worried about it."

"Hey Professor." I said and gathered up the papers. He thumbed the control on his chair and glided over, stopping right next to me. "Up late, aren't you?"

"I could say the same of you." He reached down and picked up the "live" file, the one we'd gotten from Bennington. "Still no luck, I take it?"

I shook my head. "No, not even close. But I'd bet all the money I ever made in Detroit that he's at Area 51, planning his hit on the mansion and all the disgusting things he wants to do to my daughter when he gets her back to the lab." I rubbed my eyes, then ran my fingers through my hair. "Charles, I know we can stop him from coming here if we can just _get_ to him."

"I know, my dear. But he went to great trouble to fake his own death, to prevent the wrong people from discovering his true intentions." He flipped through the file for a bit before handing it back to me. "But you already know the answer is not amongst these papers."

"I _know, _I know. I keep thinking I had to have missed something, some tiny detail that'll help me, but…well, like you said, it's not in there." I pulled my knees up to my chest and stared into the fire. We didn't say anything for a while, but I could feel his eyes on me the whole time. It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, his scrutiny. Rather, it was like the way a father might watch a daughter, or a teacher his student. In some ways, I was the latter. It's impossible to be a part of Charles Xavier's life and not be a student, but my own father had been dead for so long, part of me wanted it to be the former as well. I'm not sure what prompted what happened next, but after the fire had burned down to embers, I turned to him again. "Professor, do you ever hate me?"

"What?" I had clearly taken him by surprise, something that's not easy to do with a telepath as strong as he is. "Why on earth would you ever ask me that question?"

I shrugged. "The things I've done, people I've killed that really didn't have anything to do with what happened to me and Logan and Kyro." I swallowed hard. "And Emma."

He reached down and laid his hand gently on my shoulder. "Angela, I could no more hate you than hate the sun for setting each day, or hate the seasons for changing. What you do, what you are, it is simply a part of you, something as natural as the seasons. The nature of your mutation gives you a strong need to protect those you love and if part of that is killing that which you perceive as a threat, who am I to judge?"

"Did Logan ever tell you I thought about going back? Turning myself in to them so they'd leave everyone here alone?"

"No, he didn't. He's not one to go about telling someone's secrets."

I nodded. "Well, I did, a while ago. Had this whole plan figured out. He talked me out of it, but it still crosses my mind from time to time." I looked back into the dying fire. "I'm surprised you didn't already know."

"You know I don't make it a habit of poking around in people's minds. Just because I can doesn't mean I do."

"Yeah, I suppose." We sat there in silence for a little longer, then I reached over and tossed another log into the fireplace. Sparks spiraled up the chimney and the well-seasoned wood caught almost immediately. I settled back again and stared at the flames. "Did you know I'm afraid I'm gonna live forever?"

"Not in so many words, no." He replied, settling back in his chair.

"I am. I think Logan is too. Kyro, he's too young to know, he's barely gotten started and he's what? Almost forty now? That was so long ago for me, I barely remember what it was like."

"And to think there are people out there who would envy you, who would want to live for a hundred, two hundred years and never grow old."

I snorted bitterly. "They have no fucking idea. It's awful, watching everyone you care about get old and die. That's part of the reason why I moved around so much, every ten years or so, just so I wouldn't have to go through it. I suppose that makes me a coward, but I don't give a shit."

"You are many things, Angela, but a coward is not one of them."

"It's funny, you know? Most people are afraid to die. Me? I'm afraid I'm not going to. And why me? Why not someone who really _deserves_ it, like Ghandi or Einstein? Or maybe that guy who invented penicillin?" I turned back to him, tears standing in my eyes. "Why give this to someone whose only claim to fame is her outstanding body count?"

"If I had the answer to that, I'd also be smart enough to invent a serum that would allow everyone to live forever."

I sniffed, trying to hold back my tears. "Can you try?"

He took a deep breath, but his face took on that look he gets when he's thinking. "I know you are well aware that you are not alone, that Logan shares this gift with you. And yes, before you say anything, it _is_ a gift. Most of us only have eighty or at best ninety good years before the end. Just as we start to understand, our lives are over. But because of your gift, you have the opportunity to witness extraordinary things, events that will eventually be relegated to a few paragraphs in a history book. You will be here long after the people who created those events are gone, but you will know the truth behind those things. Perhaps the reason you have been given this gift is so that the world may never forget the things that shaped it, the heroes who saved it. People like you, Logan and Mr. Bennington are the world's memory. And, in many ways, you are its conscience."

I'd lost my battle with the tears and they spilled from my eyes, leaving hot tracks on my cheeks and I turned back to the fire. "I'm just so tired, Charles. I'm tired of all the death, all the hatred. I'm tired of turning on the news and seeing another FOH attack going unpunished. Sure, the government says things are changing, but are they really? If I'm supposed to be part of the worlds' conscience, then how come the same stupid shit keeps happening?"

"Because everyone wants to be right, everyone thinks they know best, but the fact is that no one does. I truly believe that mutants and humans can co-exist peacefully, but I fear that it will not happen in my lifetime. Perhaps that is another reason that you have been given the gift you have, so that you can take up the cause when I and everyone else here in this mansion are gone."

"You really don't want to pick me for that job. I don't agree with Lensherr's whole mutant domination thing, but I can see his point. I've seen it all, every bad thing humans can dream up to do to us and sometimes I think what the world needs is a good nuking."

"Erik has his own reasons for feeling the way he does and unlikely as it may seem, I understand them. He survived horrors that I cannot begin to imagine, although I am certain that you can. There was a time that we shared a vision and I will always regret that he and I could not remain on the same side. Regardless of what may happen, I will always have hope that the world will come to accept us for what we are."

I looked back at him, wiping the tears from my cheeks. "See? If anyone in this room deserves to live forever, it's you not me. You have all this hope, all these wonderful dreams for the future and all I have is claws and a killer instinct. The world _needs_ people like you, it doesn't need another killer."

"But you're not just a killer. You don't kill simply for the sake of killing. You do it only to protect those who cannot do it for themselves."

"Yeah, now. But before, back in the Bad Old Days? I liked it. I mean, I REALLY liked it. And in the past few years, taking out all those bases? I remember why I liked it." I shook my head and looked down. "Stryker called us animals, only good for killing, maiming and you know what? He was right. In a lot of ways, he was one hundred percent fucking right."

"But in just as many ways, he was wrong. And we already know that you had a great deal of telepathic conditioning done to you that we worked very hard to reverse."

"Then why do I still like it, huh? Why does it still make me feel all tingly when some poor pimply-faced kid barely out of basic is on his knees begging me to spare him? Why can't I look at him and see the person he is instead of an enemy to be taken out? He didn't ask for his post, didn't request it. He could have a whole life, but then I come along and take it away from him with a fucking smile on my face."

"That, I'm afraid, is probably related to your training and not your instincts or any residual memory of the conditioning. You were taught to never leave witnesses, never leave anyone behind. It was drilled into you until it was second nature. But if what you're really trying to ask me is do I think you're a terrible person, the answer is no. The mere fact that you are sitting here, agonizing over this with me should speak volumes to you about your _own_ conscience."

I gave an unexpected snort of laughter. "Ya know, I just realized that in all my time here, this is the first time we've ever talked about any of this."

"This is also the first time you were ready. I don't force any of my X-Men to utilize my skill as a psychologist, but eventually they all come to me for one reason or another. But remember that I am your friend before I am anything else and as your friend, I can tell you that you are a good, honorable woman. You have saved many more lives than you have taken, even if you never see the faces of those you save. I know that I, for one, sleep much easier knowing that we have you here to protect us."

I looked back up at him, then impulsively knelt in front of him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He held me for a long moment and I could feel the barest touch of his mind in mine, a kind of mental caress that simply made me feel better. I let go and smiled at him. "You know, had I met you forty years ago, Logan wouldn't have had a chance."

He laughed out loud and I sat back. "Oh goodness, you flatter me!"

I shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. We'll never know, will we?" I looked around and grabbed the almost empty wine bottle that I'd nearly forgotten about. "A toast, to hope for the world and maybe a bit for me, too." I took a healthy swallow and passed it over to the Professor. I didn't expect him to actually do it, but he tilted the bottle back and took a pretty good-sized drink of his own before handing it back. "Thanks, Professor, for everything."

"Anytime, my dear. My door is always open, day or night." He smiled and glided out of the study, leaving me to finish the wine as I watched the fire burn down once again. I gathered up the files and padded softly back to the suite, easing myself in next to my lover. He turned over and pulled me in close to him and I fell asleep, secure in his embrace.

There would be many times over the years that Charles and I would find ourselves in front of that fire. Sometimes we talked for hours, others we sat mostly in silence, but each time I came out of it feeling just a little bit better. I still believe that he deserved this so-called gift of mine more than I did, but he'll always be with me. And since I _will_ be around for a very long time, he'll always be around too.

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**AN:** Well, there you have it...another chapter...and would you believe i've been trying to post this for like FOUR HOURS? Such is the dangers of updating at work...re-read 2 sentences, take a call from some crazy person...correct a spelling error, take more calls from crazy people...repeat as necessary...:) Ok, not ALL the callers are crazy people...maybe someday i'll tell you all about some of my best calls...:) At any rate, special thanks to all the usual suspects, but especially to Levanna and theNightEnchantress for reviewing chapter 20...and to writestyle, for reviewing chapter 2 and will be surprised to see his/her name in bold letters at the top of THIS chapter when s/he gets here...:)

**Now, follow writestyle's fine example and throw a review down for the hell of it...:) Just say hello or whatever, i don't care...:)**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

(Logan)

Fall turned into winter, complete with early snow. The kids were thrilled, none more so than Evie. Angela went into full "leave me alone, I'm hibernating" mode, since her hatred of winter had become legendary around the school. On one particularly cold weekend, some of the kids convinced Iceman to build them a half-pipe, which ultimately came in handy as a means of punishment. If the kids didn't turn in homework, no half-pipe. Up after curfew? No half-pipe. Slacking on the morning run? Extra laps AND no half-pipe. I mentioned during a staff meeting that we should always have a half-pipe in the winter since it was such a great tool to guarantee good behavior. One-Eye accused me of wanting it for personal reasons, but nothing could have been further from the truth. I've been many things in my life, but a snowboarder is NOT one of them. I might be indestructible, but I wasn't about let anyone in that place watch me destroy my dignity trying to learn something like that. Let the kids have it; I had plenty to keep me busy.

As if that wasn't enough, Christmas fever took over the day after Thanksgiving. I'd been hoping for at least a week or two before all the tinsel and other crap got dug out of storage. I drew the line when I caught Jubilee trying to festoon the little office I used for the defense classes with the stuff. I'm no Scrooge, but just because almost everyone else worshipped Santa doesn't mean I ever did. I tolerated quite a bit of it over the years for Evie's sake, but tinsel in my office is one thing I will never fucking allow.

The school finally broke for the holidays and it was the first time the staff outnumbered the students. In a way, it was almost sad. We'd all gotten used to most of the kids staying because they had nowhere else to go. Now that most of our kids were sent by their parents – and they actually paid for it – the place felt almost empty over Christmas and New Year. Sam, on the other hand, enjoyed it.

"Ah, it feels like old times!" He said over his brandy after dinner one night. "Back when there was only what, eight of us running around this place?"

"Nine, if you include Erik and me in the total." Xavier replied.

"That would just be weird." Jubilee added. "I mean, how did you get away with stuff?"

"We didn't." Hank said. "Pulling a prank was almost impossible. Scott, Ororo, Jean and I tried to blame everything on the new kids, whenever they came in."

"Which was never often enough." Sam swirled his brandy. "Then again, it never worked for long. Besides being psychic, Charles was simply too smart for us."

"I wasn't always confined to this chair, you know." He said with a smile. "I remember my own days in prep school. I simply assumed you lot would be no different and acted accordingly."

Everyone laughed. "Aw, come on Professor," Scott piped in, "we weren't _that_ bad, were we?"

"No, I suppose not. And it's not like any of you had an easy time of things before you got here."

"I hope you're not including me in that, Charles." Storm said. "Once I got off the streets of Cairo, I was worshipped as a goddess."

Sam leaned forward and took her hand. "No, Ororo, we had entirely different things to worry about when it came to you. Like explaining that the world did _not_ revolve around you."

"What? I never…Sam, how could you?" She aimed a blow at his head, which he ducked with ease. "Someone wants to sleep in a freezing cold room tonight."

He laughed. "Ororo, you know I'm only teasing you." He bent over her hand and kissed it. "I, for one, have always worshipped the ground you walk on."

She blushed and pulled him down for a kiss. "Flatterer."

"C'mon you guys, you're givin' me diabetes over here." I joked.

"Don't be such a grouch." Angela said. "In a few months, we'll be standing up with them in their wedding you know. If you're not careful, I'm sure Sam'll toss that garter right at you."

"I plan on bein' somewhere else when that part happens."

"Oh really? Like where?"

I shrugged. "I've narrowed it down to 'somewhere else'." She slapped my shoulder and I laughed. "You don't go in for all that kinda stuff, do you?"

"That's not the point."

"Don't worry, Logan," Sam said, "I'm planning on throwing it at someone who will make good use of it. Remy comes to mind."

The Cajun looked up from the conversation he was having with Rogue, who was suddenly blushing. "Did someone take Remy's name in vain?"

"Always!" I replied with a grin. He glared at me for a second before realizing we were all joking, then he joined in the laughter. I crossed over and clapped him on the shoulder. "Hope ya got some plans for the future, Gumbo, cuz I think the lovebirds over there are plannin' somethin' for the two of ya at their reception."

"Speaking of lovebirds," Sarah said, joining the conversation, "when are you and Angela going to take the plunge?"

Silence descended over the room as everyone looked from her, to me, to Angela and back again. I took a long drag from my smoke, but my woman saved me from having to explain. "We're not."

"What? How come?"

"Because we don't want to. Or _need_ to for that matter." She leaned forward and stubbed out her cigarette. "We know forever when we feel it."

She looked at us, confused. "But don't you want to make it all legal and official?"

"How much more 'official' do we need to get? Everyone here knows we're completely devoted to each other. I don't need to spend a bunch of money on a dress I'll only wear once and a big dinner to prove that to anyone."

"Wow. I just thought, you know, it was like every little girls' dream to have a big wedding and all that."

"Sarah, I haven't been a little girl for a hundred years. I got over that dream a long time ago." She slipped her arms around me and kissed my cheek. "Not that I'd say no if he asked, but we've talked about it and it just isn't something we feel like we need to do."

The conversation turned to other topics, like the last FOH attack, the latest mutant rights bill going through congress and other such weighty matters. About an hour later, we excused ourselves and went up to our suite. Evie had been in bed for hours, so as soon as our door closed behind us, we turned to each other. She slipped effortlessly into my arms and long into the night, we exchanged the only vows we ever needed to each other.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Over the next couple of weeks, the various holiday gift-giving rituals were observed, with everyone making out like bandits. A couple days before Christmas, a rather large and oddly shaped item appeared in the lounge, covered with a red cloth and tied with a big gold bow. When I asked the Professor what it was, he simply said it was a gift for the entire school and we'd all have to wait until the students returned to find out what it was. I didn't worry about it too much, but it drove Angela up the wall that she couldn't even peek under the cloth to see what it was. Xavier was impossible, simply saying "you'll see" with a little smile every time he was questioned. I can't even begin to describe how much she hated that.

Two days after Christmas, there was an avalanche in Colorado that trapped a number of skiers, as well as blocking the major access road to the remote resort nearest the avalanche site. It was also believed that there were several people trapped in their own homes because of this disaster, so without any prompting, we suited up and took Blackbirds One and Two out west to assist with the rescue.

We took the birds sub-orbital so we could make it there in time to be of some use. We figured Iceman and Storm would come in the most handy, with Angel, Rogue and Echo being helpful with overhead searches. Colossus and Atlas were instrumental because they just picked up downed trees and moved them, while Shadowcat dove right into the deep snow and literally pulled people out who had been buried alive, at least one of which was in the nick of time. Once we'd found all the missing skiers – alive, thankfully – we moved on to clearing the road and digging people out of their houses. It was the people who lived in one of those private homes that we surprised the most.

Colossus, Beast, Cyclops and I had somehow or another been teamed together. Angela was off with Storm, Shadowcat and Gambit, helping another family get themselves sorted out, while the rest of Alpha was similarly teamed up. At any rate, the four of us showed up and we were a bit shocked to see that the house was almost completely under snow. We could hear an ominous creaking sound, so we wasted no time in getting started with the digging. Colossus shifted to his organic steel form and dug in with his bare hands, moving chunks of compacted snow the size of small cars. Cyclops did his part, using his eye beams in an attempt to tunnel through in another spot, using an almost surgical technique that left glassy ice walls in his wake. Beast and I just dug in, hoping that we'd find a door or window before the people inside suffered carbon monoxide poisoning or worse. After about forty-five minutes, we heard Scott say he found the garage door over the com, so we all abandoned what we were doing to converge on his position.

The tunnel he'd carved out was barely tall enough for Piotr to get through and just wide enough for Hank's broad shoulders. Scott had made a wider area in front of the garage by the time we got there, big enough for us to stand in pairs, one behind the other. "Logan, I don't want to blast this door off," he said, "I don't know if there's a car or anything back there."

"Leave it to me," I replied and popped my claws. They sliced through the aluminum door like it was paper and in seconds I made an opening big enough for us to walk through. It was black as pitch inside and although it was ok for me and Hank, the other two couldn't navigate by scent like we could. Scott pulled a flashlight out of the rescue pack he had slung on his back and clicked it on, sweeping the beam over the space before us. Inside stood an expensive-looking SUV and a pair of snowmobiles, as well as the other crap you'd expect to find in a garage. Near the back was a door that had to lead into the house, so we picked our way across the floor towards it. Before Scott even had a chance to knock, the door flew open and the double barrels of a shotgun were thrust in his face. "Who the hell are you?" The man behind the gun demanded.

Scott put up his hands to show that all he had was the light. "We're the X-Men, we're here to get you out."

"X-Men? That damn mutie group?"

I clenched my jaw against a growl and I swear I heard Scott grind his teeth. "Yes, we're mutants, but that's not important. We're assisting with the search and rescue after that avalanche."

"How do I know you're not just here to take us all out, rob us blind?"

I snorted. "Bub, if you could see our HQ, you wouldn't even ask that question." I took a step forward and he switched his aim to me, just what I wanted, and I chuckled. "Go ahead an' shoot me if it'll make ya feel better, but it ain't gonna do much for long."

"What, are you crazy or something?"

"Somethin'. But we still ain't here to rob ya or take you out, unless gettin' you outta this avalanche counts." I took another look around the garage, taking in a few details before looking back at him. "I'm guessin' you got kids in there, maybe two? I can tell ya right now, they ain't gonna last much longer if ya don't get 'em outta this house. You'll be losin' air before ya know it an' it'll get to them before it gets to you."

The double barrels wavered a bit. "Yeah, I've got kids in here. But it doesn't mean I'm going to trust their safety to mutie trash like you just on your say-so."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes or bull-rush my way into the house. "Listen, your house is all but buried here, pal. We got some emergency medical supplies if ya need 'em an' Cyclops here dug you a way out, but you gotta trust us. Who the hell knows how long it'll take the rest o' the search teams to get this far?"

The barrels dipped lower and I could see he was considering what I was saying. "It's just…I heard about the crap that Magneto's pulled and I've got some friends who think you're all just like him, just waiting to get us all comfortable with you before you take over the whole thing. It makes a kind of sense if you think about it."

"Sir, I assure you that we are not like Magneto in any way." Hank piped in as he stepped into the backsplash from the flashlight. The man's eyes widened and the barrels started to come up again slowly. Hank simply put his huge hands up at chest height, but continued to speak. "Some of us may look fierce or even monstrous, but most of us just want to live our lives like the rest of the world. I, for one, have neither the time nor the inclination to rule the planet, my hands are quite full teaching biology to young mutants!"

The shotgun lowered again. "You're a science teacher?"

"Yes sir, I am." He slowly put his hand forward. "Dr. Henry McCoy, biologist, geneticist and sometime super hero."

The man broke into an unexpected grin. "No shit? Dr. McCoy? I've read some of your papers, based my master's thesis on your theories of gene splicing to cure disease." He took Hank's hand and shook it with something like awe. "Dr. Stephen Gibson. I teach chemistry at NYU."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Hank replied with a smile.

"Damn. I always wondered why there weren't any pictures of you. I guess now I know." He pointed the shotgun at the floor and stepped back. "Come on in, we do need some help in here."

Scott stepped in first with a muttered "thank you" and the rest of us followed, with Hank bringing up the rear. The two of them launched into a discussion about Dr. Gibson's paper and I just shook my head. I was willing to bet that the "friends" he'd spoken of earlier were none other than the Friends of Humanity, a suspicion that was confirmed moments later.

"Sorry about all that, but like I said before, I have some friends who are convinced you're all just terrorists waiting to happen." Gibson said.

"Hm, 'Friends of Humanity', by chance?" Hank asked and Gibson nodded, looking almost ashamed. "I know that Magneto will never become the poster child for mutant rights, but he is not indicative of our kind."

"Not even close." Scott added. "Like Hank here said, most of us just want to live our lives."

Gibson looked down, realized he still held the shotgun and put it carefully in a corner. "Well, we just heard so much about him and almost nothing about mutants doing good things for so long, it was hard to think of them as being anything but."

"Magneto has his reasons for feeling the way he does," Hank said, shaking his head, "not that I don't blame him. He's a Holocaust survivor, so it's understandable that his experiences have tainted his views on the rights of those that are considered different from those in authority. However, I do not believe it gives him the right to control or even eradicate normal humans."

Gibson nodded. "Well, I can honestly say that you're the first mutants I've ever met personally. That I know about, at least."

"Trust me," Scott said, "we're not that different from you and the X-Men believe we should use our powers to help those who need it." He looked around the large sitting room that Gibson had led us in to. "So, you said you needed some help in here. What can we do for you before we get you out?"

"This way." Gibson replied and led us up the stairs. "My son Jacob was trying to help me dig out from the upstairs balcony and I think he may have broken his wrist."

"Please, take me to him." Hank said, immediately in doctor mode.

"Wolverine, why don't you and Colossus help the rest of the family pack some essentials?" Scott said. I nodded and went in search of the rest of the Gibson clan.

We found them in the master bedroom, Mrs. Gibson and a little girl about eight years old. She was clutching a stuffed bear and crying, while her mother tried to keep her calm. She stifled a gasp as we walked in and Piotr played the diplomat. "Please, do not be afraid," he said quietly, "we are only here to help you."

"Wh-who are you?" The woman asked.

"My name is Colossus and I am with the X-Men. We're here to get you out."

"You have a funny name." The little girl said, her sobs quieting. I smirked as her mother said "quiet Lauren, that's not nice", while Piotr just smiled.

"Yes, I suppose it is a little strange. But what else to call a man who can lift your car over his head and do this?" He activated his power, his flesh becoming steel in a matter of seconds.

The little girl looked at him with wide eyes. "Whoa, that is so cool!" She exclaimed. "Does it hurt?"

"Nyet, little one. Would you like to feel it?" She nodded and held out a hand, so Piotr crossed over with his own hand before him. She touched it and smiled again. "It is different, yes?"

"Yeah." She looked at me. "So what can you do?"

Ah shit. "I have really good senses, I can smell all kinds o' things most people can't, see farther, hear better. An' I heal up really fast." No need to say anything about the claws, as far as I was concerned.

"How fast?"

"Well, if I cut myself shavin', it disappears in a couple o' seconds."

She tilted her head and gave me an odd look. "It don't look like you shave ever." Piotr snorted loudly and I looked down to hide my smile, while her mother once again admonished her.

"Trust me darlin', I do. It just don't last long." She giggled and I smiled at her and her mom. "So, our friends are helpin' your daddy with your brother. Why don't you grab some suitcases an' we'll help ya get some stuff packed?"

Twenty minutes later, Hank had declared that the boy's wrist was sprained, not broken, and had him all wrapped up. In the meantime, Piotr and I helped the ladies pack up enough stuff for them all for about a week and we made our way out of the house. It took us a bit to get to the road where we'd left the SUV we'd had to take to get up here and in the end, Hank and I ended up carrying the kids. By the time we got them bundled inside, little Lauren was calling me "Uncle Wolv'rine" and the rest of the team seemed highly amused by it. Since I didn't want to scare the kids, I had to settle for shooting death glares at them and grumbling silently to myself. As soon as we had them off the mountain and on their way to one of the nearby hotels that had agreed to take on the refugees, I turned to Scott with a growl. "Not one word, Scooter. Not. One. Word. You got me?"

He covered his mouth to hide a smirk. "Sure Logan, whatever you say." I growled again and went in search of my woman.

I found her at the Red Cross station, sipping hot chocolate and surrounded by a gaggle of kids. She smiled when she saw me and waved goodbye to them before jogging over to me. "Logan, how'd you do?"

"I'll tell you later." I said and pointed to the group. They were about the same age as the senior students back at the school and they all seemed to adore my woman. "What's all that about?"

"Oh them? Ski trip from some little school Michigan. Once they found out I used to own RnR, they went nuts. Seems I'm something of a celebrity." She sipped her cocoa. "They had a private cabin rented. Whole thing was all but buried when we got there. We sent Kitty in to calm them down while Remy and Storm did their thing from the outside. I got to stand there like a putz and watch."

I chuckled. "Well, it sure beats a shotgun in the face." I said and recounted our experience, leaving out the "Uncle Wolv'rine" part. She was still laughing by the end, thanks to the shaving comment. "Anyway, if nothin' else, looks like FOH lost a member today."

She nodded. "So it would seem." She looked around as she finished her drink. "So, anything else or are we done here?"

I cocked my head towards the tent where the rescue effort was being coordinated so I could overhear what they were saying. After a few minutes of eavesdropping, I turned back to her. "Sounds like we're done. Rest o' the houses were empty, we got the trapped skiers an' the resort's got their own people to dig 'em out."

"Fanfuckingtastic!" She exclaimed and tossed her cup into a nearby trash bin. "Get me the hell outta here and in front of a nice fire where I belong!"

I laughed out loud, startling a couple who were walking past. "Should I get ya a nice pillow an' a bowl o' cream when we get there?"

She tried to punch my shoulder, but I dodged easily. "You are so not even _close_ to funny."

"Yes I am." I replied and leaned down to kiss her. Scott's voice came over the com, telling us to return to the jets and we went gratefully. The atmosphere in the jet was light, the kind of feeling that surrounds you after a job well done. It wasn't all the time that we got to go on a mission and have everything work out for the best. It hadn't escaped anyone's notice that there were camera crews from several news agencies there and our presence at the rescue could not be avoided. In fact, a few days after we got back, Dr. Gibson was interviewed by CNN and one of the things he said would eventually be one of the most quoted sound bytes from the whole experience. "My family and I owe our lives to the X-Men. Had someone told me that I was going to meet a group of mutants that morning, I would have said they were crazy. But what astonished me is that the one they call Beast would turn out to be more human than many people I know. The men I met that morning give me hope that eventually, everyone will see and understand that mutants and humans have more in common than we thought. I simply cannot thank them enough for what they did for me."

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**AN:** Well, 22 chapters down, four more to go...oh, and an epilogue too...so technically five to go...:) Super thanks to everyone, especially Levanna, theNightEnchantress and Nataku's Wrath for reviewing...:) Now, the good news for all of you is that this story is technically complete, i'm just evil and i make you wait for updates...:) What's the bad news? Well, the sequel (and possibly final installment in the series) is on hold for now because i have this evil plot bunny that i'm chasing...if the entire story winds up being longer than six or eight chapters, i'll be amazed, but it's an insistent little bunny that wouldn't leave me alone...on the plus side, the story is ENTIRELY unrelated to this series, so if you all are interested in reading it, i'll post the first chapter in the next couple of days...so, if you review, let me know if you'd like to read something that's just Logan, an OC and some wackiness...:)

**As for those of you who have read and haven't reviewed, go ahead and give it a go...you could be responsible for shortening the conclusion of this story from about 15-20 days to...five!! One new reviewer a day one new chapter a day...think about it...:)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Special Note: **Everyone, give a huge shout out to **Tahlmorra** for (and i quote!) "exercising my right as a new reader to request a new chapter"...:) So, Tahlmorra, this one's for you! And, oddly enough, everyone else wins too! Enjoy!

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Chapter 23

(Angela)

The week following the rescue in Colorado was trying to everyone on Alpha team, mostly due to Dr. Gibson. His interview was being repeated on every news station in the country and was eventually translated into something crazy like fifteen languages for agencies all over the world. As soon as it hit the airwaves, the calls for interviews started pouring in. Just before the New Year and about three days before the kids came back from the holiday, we had a meeting to discuss what we should do about it.

"I think we should do it." Charles said. "We've done other rescues, assisted with other disasters, but no one has ever taken it to heart the way the people are taking this one."

"I don't know Professor," Scott replied. "It could be a huge security risk for the school."

"On the other hand, it would give the world an inside look at just what we do here." Storm chimed in. "Not the lower levels, obviously, but the school proper? Why not?"

"What about the kids? We've always taught them that anonymity is their first line of defense. If we put them on the national news…"

"Some of us are easier to hide than others." Warren pointed out. "Even if I strap these things down and wear a coat, it still looks like I'm hiding something, even if it's just a hunchback."

"And the rest of us have been seen on the news time and again anyway." Bobby added. "It's not like we've been trying too hard to hide anymore."

"Look, what we decide to do is our decision." Scott said. "We're adults, we've made up our minds. Some of these kids might want to go on to college, leave here completely, have normal lives."

"And some of them will be able to do just that." Charles replied. "But the fact remains that others will not, especially those with physical mutations. There's also the fact that at least three people in this room will easily outlive everyone else, something that the rest of the world is certain to take notice of eventually." He looked at me, Logan and Kyro as he said that. "It is unclear if the same can be said of Mr. Gibney and Ms. Sinclair, but it is safe to assume they will enjoy a longer lifespan than most."

"So what, we just tell the world 'hey, check it out, we got ourselves some all-but-immortal types here!'" Scott snorted. "What do you think will happen? That they'll be ok with that?"

"That ain't my problem." Logan growled. "Let 'em think it's all rosy to live this fuckin' long. Ain't like we got a vote anyway."

"Logan's right." I said. "Sure, the never getting sick part's pretty cool and the disappearing injuries is nice. But watching your friends, lovers, _children_ grow old and die?" I shuddered involuntarily. "It's hard, it's really hard." I looked down at my hands. "I never had the guts to do it." I whispered.

The room fell silent, but I felt the Professor in my head. 'Angela, remember what we talked about.' He said.

'I do. I still never had the guts to do it.'

'That doesn't make you a coward, it simply makes you human.' I looked up and gave him a weak smile, which he returned along with what felt like a mental hug.

"…don't think we should do it, for the kids if nothing else." Scott was saying.

"What if the ones who don't wanna be seen weren't here?" Rogue suggested and all eyes turned to her. "I'm serious. I can take the younger kids on another campin' trip in the woods across the river an' any of the older ones can just stay in their rooms."

"Or we could send them on a field trip too." Sarah said. "Peter and I could take them somewhere, maybe New York or Boston. Hell, most of the older ones are home right now anyway, so they're pretty out in the open about what they are in the first place."

"And they all have pretty good control of their powers." Peter added. "If we run into any trouble, we'll have coms on us, we can call in the troops if we need to."

"Won't that defeat the purpose of having them come here to see that this is a school like any other?" Scott asked.

"We won't take them all, just the ones that don't want to be on national television. And if I know teenagers…"

"They'll all want their fifteen minutes of fame." Scott sighed and ran a hand over his face. "All right, I suppose that's a good enough compromise. But I don't want anyone younger than fourteen being filmed."

"I can agree to that." Charles stated with a smile. "Very well, I'll make the call to CNN tomorrow."

We all trickled out of the study, each of us consumed by our own thoughts. I could hear Marie whispering to Remy about how much fun it would be to do winter camping with the kids, while Sarah, Scott and Peter were discussing if it would be better to take the older kids to New York for a cultural experience, although Boston or Philadelphia could be used for a more historical perspective. I shook my head and slipped an arm around Logan's waist. "Aren't you glad all we have to worry about is kicking ass?"

"Hey, I teach 'em the ass kickin'," he replied with a smirk, "you show 'em how to put it together as a team."

"True. But you're just as good at tactics and strategy as I am."

"An' you kick ass almost as good as I do." I punched his arm and he laughed. "Face it darlin', there's just some things ya can't do."

"Name one."

"Bullets can stop you, even if it's only for a day." I scowled and he laughed again. "Sorry tiger, nature of the beast."

"I just hate it when you're right."

"As long as ya still love me, I don't care." He leaned down and kissed me softly. "So, whatcha wanna do with the rest o' the day?"

"Well, Evie's been complaining that she's bored without all her friends here, so…"

He looked at me in alarm. "You ain't thinkin' 'bout goin' back to that noise factory, are you?"

I giggled. "No, but I thought maybe we could go to the mall, maybe catch a movie, do some shopping."

"Darlin', we just had Christmas. What could possibly be left for you to buy?"

"After-Christmas sales, get all kinds of good deals." I gave him my most endearing look, which softened the scowl that had taken over his face. "Come on, it'll be fun. I heard they put in a new tobacconist that didn't get a chance to open before the holidays."

"Really?" He said, a smile spreading across his face. "All right, we'll go."

"Great! I'll grab Evie and we'll be back down in twenty." I kissed him quickly and dashed up the stairs to retrieve our daughter and our coats. I know Logan hated the mall almost as much as "the noise factory", but at least we could drop him off at the cigar shop and have some girlie time for ourselves. We met him in the garage, where he was standing next to my car and looking at it with undisguised longing on his face. He perked up when we walked in and I knew what he was going to ask before he opened his mouth. "No, you can't drive."

"C'mon Angela! I'm not gonna hurt your damn car!"

I sidled up to him and pulled his ear to my mouth. "Would you let another man drive me?" I whispered and he turned to me with scowl. I let him go and opened the driver's said. "Didn't think so. Get in the car, deal with it."

"It's not the same thing, ya know." He grumbled as he pushed the seat forward so Evie could climb in the back. "Not the same thing at all."

"Put your seat belt on, sweetie." I said to Evie in the mirror as Logan got himself situated. I turned to him but he was scowling at the dashboard in front of him. "Maybe to you it isn't, but I poured all my love into this car before you came back along, so you'll have to forgive me."

"Feels like the other man, I swear."

"I don't sleep with my car, Logan. I've never even slept IN it." I turned the key in the ignition and opened the garage door with the remote. "Just relax."

"I hate not drivin'."

"I know, but you'll live." I pulled the car out of the garage and we were off to the mall.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I swear to God, they should issue machetes to everyone goin' into a mall from Thanksgivin' to New Years." Logan grumbled as we piled out of the car.

Evie laughed, greatly amused. "Daddy, you have your own knives, why would you need another one?"

"She's got you there, lover." I said, grabbing the last of my bags from the trunk. "And it's worse before Christmas, you know."

"So?"

"So, it's past the issue date for machetes." He snorted and I kissed him on the cheek. "Oh cheer up. I saw your face when you walked into the cigar shop, like you'd died and gone to heaven."

He shrugged and grasped his own bag, which contained two boxes of his favorite stogies. "Ain't gonna apologize for that. Better'n bein' dragged all over hell's half acre lookin' at a bunch o' clothes."

"We looked at toys an' stuff too, Daddy." Evie pointed out, holding the garage door for us. "An' Mommy got you…oops!" Her eyes went wide and she clapped her hand over her mouth.

Logan looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Got me what?"

"Nothing honey." I said sweetly and tried to dance past him, but he grabbed me about the waist.

"Don't 'nothin' honey' me, darlin'. I know what that means."

I kissed the tip of his nose and wriggled out of his grasp. "You'll see…later." I gave him a mischievous wink and entered the mansion.

Hours later, after dinner was over and the last brandy sipped, Logan and I made our way back to the suite. He'd been trying all day to get me to tell him what I bought for him, but I simply smiled and winked every time he asked. When we got to the door, he planted himself in front of it, arms spread and his hand firmly on the doorknob. "Ok darlin', I've played your little game all damn day. What the hell didja get for me today?"

"A present." I replied, the little smile on my face.

"You got me a stack o' presents for Christmas or Yule or whatever the hell it is you celebrate, I don't need nothin' else."

"Maybe, maybe not. I still bought you a present."

He looked down. "But I didn't get you anythin'." He mumbled.

I reached up and stroked his cheek lovingly. "Lover, that's not why I bought you a gift today," he looked up at me, his brow furrowed in confusion, "I bought you a gift because I wanted to. And because it made me giggle."

Now he looked almost terrified. "What did you do, Angela?"

"You'll see." He finally relented and opened the door, sweeping his arm to usher me inside. The little lamp on the nightstand cast a dim yellowish glow, but it was more than enough for us to see by. Most of the stuff had been unpacked and put away, but there were a couple bags still hidden inside other bags that I hadn't let Logan see. I gave him a gentle shove. "Sit down, close your eyes."

He sat, but his eyes remained open. "How come I suddenly don't trust you?" He asked with a touch of amusement.

"You got me." I reached into the large bags and pulled out the packages I'd hidden while still in the mall. "Do you want the funny one or the other one first?"

"That depends. Which one's gonna get me made fun of?" I gave him a look that spoke volumes about the thickness of his skull and he grinned. "Fine, gimme the funny one."

"Close your eyes." He complied this time and I pulled out the silk boxers I'd found at a novelty shop and shook them out. "Ok, open them."

He peered at them curiously for a moment, then threw back his head and laughed wholeheartedly. They were white, not a color I would normally buy for him, but they had writing on them. Near the top, with an arrow pointing up, were the words "The Man". Just below, with an arrow pointing down, were the words "The Legend". "Darlin', I think you mighta found the one thing I woulda _never_ expected!" He said.

I grinned. "So, you like them?"

"I ain't gonna promise I'll wear 'em under my uniform or anythin', but yes, I like 'em." He shook his head, reached out and grabbed my wrist to pull me close. "You have the weirdest sense o' humor outta anyone I've ever known."

"Yeah, but you love it." I whispered and kissed the top of his head.

He kissed me in turn on the stomach, then swatted my backside. "So, what's the other one?"

"Close your eyes again." I ordered and he did so without hesitation. I reached into the other bag and pulled out something I'd ordered before Christmas, but it hadn't come in on time. "Open them."

His eyes widened as he ran his hands over the fabric, the finest Japanese matte silk in muted shades of blue from sky to almost purple. I'd found a shop tucked away down one of the little-traveled wings of the mall that specialized in Japanese items and had returned with Kyro two days later. By talking to the owners, a Mr. and Mrs. Oshiro, I discovered that the wife was also a seamstress and I negotiated with her to make Logan a samurai's kimono, complete with hakama, obi and haori. I handed the pieces to him one at a time and his expression went from surprise to something like wonder. "Angela, where did you _get_ this?"

I told him about the shop and the lovely people who owned it. "When I told them why I wanted it, they seemed a bit surprised. But as I told them more about you, they got real quiet. I asked them what was wrong and Mr. Oshiro sent his wife into the back room. She came back a few minutes later with a book, his great-grandfather's journal from what I understand. In there, he tells a story about a gaijin samurai who saved his son's life, a man who fought with the fury of a tiger. After the man was gone, insisting that there was no debt between them, he made a sketch from memory, so he could honor that man. Logan, it was you."

"I remember that." He whispered huskily. "Not real well, it was a long time ago, but I remember that. The samurai were already a dyin' breed, the class had been abolished by the turn o' the century, but there were still men in remote areas who believed in the way of the warrior, even if they no longer carried a sword in their hand. I was already afraid o' myself, what I was capable of. I half felt like an animal most o' the time and figured there had to be a better way. I don't remember why I thought I'd find the answers in Japan, but I went. An' I did," he looked up into my eyes and I saw a calm there I'd not seen often, "find the answers, that is. It worked too, for a real long time, til Stryker found me an' turned me back into a fuckin' animal."

"It didn't last forever, Logan. You came back to yourself, even if it took you a while to remember everything. And you didn't lose it all; you're still the best swordsman I've ever seen. Not to mention the most honorable man I've ever known in my life."

He kept running his hands over the silk garments, but by the look in his eyes I could tell he was reliving another part of his life, where honor meant something and the lines between good and evil were clear. I simply stood in front of him and waited for him to finish his ruminations. I would have waited all night if I had to, but after a few minutes he looked back at me. "Do I even wanna know what this cost you?"

"No, you don't." I replied, smiling softly. "But it was worth every penny, just to see the look on your face." I took his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on, let me help you put it on."

"What, now?" I nodded and he stepped aside, the obi and hakama in his hands. "I don't…Angela, I'm not a samurai, not anymore."

"From what the Oshiro's told me, a samurai is always a samurai, no matter what, unless you do something to dishonor your sensei or your clan. And you have never dishonored yourself or those around you, never gone against the samurai code."

"How can you say that, after all the shit we did?"

"Logan, to be perfectly blunt, you were completely mindfucked back then. They worked you over with the telepaths, put that damn chip in your head, you _know_ that. The person they made you into, that wasn't you."

"But part of it _was_ me, the worst o' me an' _you_ know that."

"I thought we got past all this a long time ago."

He sighed and gently put the garments in his hands on the bed. "We did, mostly. I know I ain't just a killer, but part o' me is an' always will be. Just like part o' me's nothin' but an animal an' always will be."

"Then it's also fair to say that part of you, the greatest part of you, is still a samurai and always will be." His eyes softened and I reached up to stroke his cheek. "You know I'm right."

He sighed. "Yeah, I s'pose you are. I'm sure there's a hole in your logic somewhere, but I'm damned if I can find it right now."

He smiled at me and leaned into my hand with a sigh. I moved my hand up to his hair, which was just as soft as the silk of his kimono. "So, will you put it on?"

He gave me a tiny nod, so small that had I not had my hand in his hair, I'd have never noticed it. Mrs. Oshiro had shown me the correct way to put on a kimono, using Kyro as my test subject and a kimono they had for sale in the shop. Through him, she explained every step, the right way to fold the obi, the correct pleating for the hakama. She also explained that it was still common in Japan to find people whose job it was to help people dress in their kimono, even though the garment itself isn't often seen in every day life.

Logan slowly removed his boots, socks, jeans and t-shirt and I went behind him with the kimono. He held his arms loosely at his sides and I slid it up his arms, settling it just so on his shoulders. I moved slowly to the front and wrapped it left over right, then slipped the hakama over his legs before securing the whole thing in place with the obi. Lastly, I helped him into the haori, which was made of the darkest color and held in place with silken silver ties. Once I was done, I turned from him and went to the closet for the last part of the gift. I'd hidden them well, buried beneath the pile of maternity clothes that I never went near, so he'd never known they were there. But what was the use of giving him a samurai's kimono if he had no weapons to go with it?

The katana and wakzashi together are called a "daisho", sometimes including a third blade called a tanto. I'd gone the distance and bought all three, figuring that was how it would have been for him before. I brought them out, still wrapped in the blue silk that matched his haori and handed them to him. "And this would be the last of it." I whispered and held the bundle out.

He took them from me and unwrapped them carefully, his eyes growing wide again when he saw them. I'd asked the Oshiro's to find them for me, since all I know about katanas and such is confined to what Logan had shown Chasca and the weapons the Professor acquired for her and Kyro. But they understood that I was trying to bring back the gaijin samurai that had saved one of their ancestors and so had no problem finding the finest weapons they could for me. And fine they were, the metal of the blades showing the moiré pattern that belied great craftsmanship, the edges still keen after all this time. Engraved near the base of the blade were serpents, along with the signature of the man who made them. The tsubas, or hand guards, were made of steel as opposed to later weapons which were more decorative rather than functional. However, they also mimicked the shape of a coiled serpent, with pieces of jade where the eyes would be. It hadn't been easy for them to find a three-piece matched set for me, but money was not an object and they did very well indeed.

The scabbards, or saya, were works of art in and of themselves, also with the serpent motif and with jade and emerald decorations on them. Mr. Oshiro told me that the serpent is a symbol of wisdom and I thought it was a most appropriate thing for my lover to have. He looked over the weapons reverently, drawing each one gently from its saya to look at the blades, take in every detail on them. Finally, he looked at me again. "Angela, why? I know what these had to cost you, so why?"

I took a moment to consider my answer. "With everything we've done the past ten years, all the bases we've hit…well, I kinda had a crisis of faith. I wasn't sure if it was right any more, wasn't sure if we should go on, if there was any point to it. I've never been one to agonize over these things, I just always did what I had to do and figured I pay for it later if I ever died once and for all. But it got me to thinking about you and how you're always so ready to believe the worst of yourself, and for the first time I didn't know what to say to you about it, how to talk to you. When I stumbled across that shop, it was like a gift from the gods. I mean, I never go down that part of the mall, almost no one does. I took Kyro back to help me talk to the Oshiro's, help me get everything just perfect. I did this to remind you that, no matter what's happened to you since, you are still a samurai and always will be."

He looked down at the floor and I thought at first he was at a loss for words. But when he looked back at me, I saw a rare sight, tears in his eyes. "I dunno if I'm still worthy enough for all o' this, but I'm glad ya did it." He slipped the blades under his haori, where they fit snugly against his waist beneath the obi. "Most o' all, I am very honored that _you_ think I am." He smiled and held out his arms, and I slid into them happily. He held me close, not moving or saying anything for a long time. But eventually, he did let me go. "Thank you, for everythin', not just this." He said, gesturing to his outfit.

"No need to thank me. Just promise that whenever you think you're so terrible, you'll put this on and think about something else instead."

"I can do that."

I looked him over, clad in blue silk, daisho at his side and it was like I'd never seen him before. He was breathtaking. "You know, if someone would have told me how sensual it would be to put your clothes _on_, I'd have gotten you one of these ages ago."

He gave me a half smile before cupping my face and kissing me gently. "Yeah well, ya never spent too much time in Japan." He stroked my cheek with his thumb before stepping back again. "But you'll just hafta wait, darlin'. Ya weren't wrong, your reasons for gettin' this for me. Now, I'm gonna go think 'bout it."

"Kinda figured you would." I murmured. "Go do what you need to do. I'll be here when you get back."

He bowed low to me then, without irony, and left the suite. I picked up his discarded clothing, the ubiquitous jeans and t-shirt that he always wore and deposited them in the hamper. For all that they had always been the kind of clothes that seemed typical of him, I realized then that they were really just another kind of costume or camouflage. The kimono he wore now was more like the real him, the clothing of a true warrior. I stripped down and crawled into bed, curling up around his pillow to wait for his return. After that night, it became a fairly common occurrence for him to take off to the garden or one of the still-empty attic rooms or even the roof, where if one were to follow him, they would find him kneeling in quiet meditation. I was just glad that he'd managed to find another part of him he'd thought he'd lost.

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**AN:** Now, to explain where the inspiration for the kimono came from...i happen to own a stack of Wolverine and X-Men comics...not as many as some people i know (RhiannonUK comes to mind!), but i have a fair few...and one of those happens to be the Frank Miller (of "Sin City" fame) "Wolverine" graphic novel, as well as the first six or eight issues of the new "Wolverine: Origin" series...in both of those, there are panels where the most Wolvelicious one is shown in a traditional kimono...added to that was a long night at work where i was watching "The Last Samurai" and as i was working on this chapter, the scene where Tom Cruise's character is being dressed in the samurai armor came on and it struck me that it was one of the most sensual scenes i've ever seen in a movie...and it was of someone GETTING DRESSED...so yeah, i totally borrowed the concept and put it in here...i'd love to give you the links to the sites i used to research both kimonos and the daisho, but i seem to have lost those links...le sigh...for the record, i found both as external sources on the Wikipedia pages for both...

Special thanks to all the usual suspects, especially to theNightEnchantress, TnTornado and Tahlmorra for reviewing this chapter (so far!)...For now, it's back to the as-yet untitled evil plot bunny of distraction, so i can hopefully get that out of my system and back to the next (and possibly final) installment of this series!

**Now, for all of you who haven't reviewed, try it now! YOU could be the one responsible for two updates in a 24 hour period!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Happy Friday the Thirteenth! Thought i'd post this for all you superstitious types, so you could think to yourself "at least one thing went right today!" Enjoy!**

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Chapter 24

(Logan)

I'm pretty sure Angela had no idea how much her late gift meant to me and still means to this day. She gave me a lot more than a set of antique swords and the finest kimono I've ever seen. She reminded me that there is a lot more to me than the weapon Stryker tried to forge out of me, more than just the animal that came with the mutation. I made a decision that night while I was meditating that if it was the very last thing I did, I was going to take her to Japan and show her where I'd learned the way of the samurai. And if I could, I would find someone to teach her.

Winter turned to spring and I could feel Fate drawing close to me, the day I'd been dreading for almost a year. I was sitting in my office near the workout room, a lesson plan in front of me for the next defense class, but I was really trying to plot a way to get out of the horrible thing I was going to have to do later that day. I found myself secretly wishing that Magneto would break out of jail, or the FOH would plot an attack somewhere nearby. Hell, I would have settled for a nice natural disaster with lots of people trapped in precarious positions, _anything_ to get me out of my tuxedo fitting.

But, like I said, Fate had it in for me and when five o'clock rolled around, Scott was there with an unbearably smug look on his face. "Hey Logan, we're leaving in ten minutes." He said and I could hear the amusement in his voice. I mumbled something under my breath that related to him going and fucking himself, but he acted like he didn't hear me. "What was that? Never mind, not important. We have to go to the _tuxedo fitting_ in ten minutes."

I looked up and I could see he was on the verge of outright laughter. "Shove it up your ass, Cyke. This ain't funny."

"Oh, I disagree completely." He leaned into the office, a full grin on his face. "It's absolutely _hilarious._"

"Remind me again why I called a truce with you? Please? Cuz right now, I'm thinkin' it might be over."

"Oh relax Logan, we won't be there long."

"Yeah, just long enough for me to feel like a complete ass."

"I'd think you'd be used to that by now." I growled and he laughed out loud.

"Laugh it up, One-Eye, but I guaranfuckin'tee that I'll be the one laughin' the hardest when you get tanked at the reception and start doin' the Funky White Man dance."

"Hey, you're the one with all the slick moves around here, not me. Or did you forget about that time…"

I stood up, my fists balled at my sides. "Don't even fuckin' go there. I will deck you." It was bad enough that, despite my best threats, the damned DDR scenario had somehow NOT been deleted from the Danger Room mainframe. In fact, the file had "mysteriously" been password protected and no one seemed to know what the password was. Buzz insisted that he'd done all he could to purge it, but it kept coming back. I suspected Hank, since he was the one that'd had the most fun with it, but I didn't have proof. And right when I thought things couldn't get worse, when the kids came back from Christmas break, the Professor unveiled his special gift for the school – our very own DDR machine. Pretty much the only good thing about it was we could use that as punishment along with the half-pipe AND it wouldn't melt when winter was over. But I still had some of the younger kids coming up to me whenever they caught me alone and begging to compete with me. It usually only took a glare or a growl to get rid of them, but they'd always rediscover their courage and ask me again. Xavier also told me, in no uncertain terms, I was definitely _not_ allowed to give the machine a makeover with my claws. I was doomed.

Scott had taken a step back, his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, it's good, no need to get violent." He glanced at his watch, then lowered his hands. "Come on, we leave in five minutes. And you already promised Sam you'd do this, so you can't get out of it."

I grumbled under my breath again, but reached over and closed the lesson plan. "All right, let's get this fuckin' thing over with."

Half an hour later, I was standing in the middle of the tailor's while some guy who was roughly as masculine as Nicole Kidman measured my inseam. I looked over at the others and the only other person who was being fitted by a man was the Professor, whose measurements were already on file there and just needed to be re-verified. Everyone else had a woman, including Sam, which I thought was just plainly unfair. The guy seemed to be taking an awful long time to figure out one little number, so I looked down at him. "Problem, bub?"

"What? Oh no, nothing." He replied, but I heard him mumble "you're a big boy, aren't you?" under his breath.

I clenched my fists, the tips of my claws straining just inside my hands when I heard the Professor's voice in my mind. 'Logan, behave yourself. It will never do to have you gutting one of the finest tailors in New York.'

'Remind me again why I'm doin' this then, cuz I ain't seein' any reason to put up with this guy gettin' his jollies doin' my measurements.'

'Because Sam and Ororo are your friends and it means a great deal to them to include you.'

I scowled over my shoulder at him, but relaxed my claws back into my forearms. A moment later, Mr. Nicole Kidman scolded me for moving and I turned back around. "How much more you gotta measure anyway?"

"That was the last of it, Mr. Logan." He replied and I stepped off the platform I'd been standing on, but it didn't escape my notice that he watched me as I walked outside to light up a cigar. I've had men hit on me before but that was just kind of creepy. I also had a strange feeling that this little story would make its way around Alpha team at the least and I was not looking forward to that at all. Fifteen minutes later, the rest of the guys came left the shop, so I stubbed out my cigar and we all went back to the mansion.

I was impressed that it took longer than ten minutes for the story to get back to Angela, but she was the only one who was at least sympathetic to me. "I heard there was a…situation at the tailor's." She said as we sat down to dinner.

I rolled my eyes and gave her a slightly pleading look. "C'mon darlin', not you too." I groaned.

"Oh no! I'm not gonna pick on you for it." She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "Was he at least cute?"

"What?" I snapped and she sat back, laughing. "I don't fuckin' know!"

"Calm down, lover. If it makes you feel any better, Storm's making us wear flower circlets in our hair."

I raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Really? That'll be a hoot."

"Oh yeah, just what I always wanted. At least all of us bridesmaids managed to squash the idea of parasols before she got too far with it."

I snorted with barely-suppressed laughter. "Flower circlets_ and_ a parasol? I thought she was your friend."

"Yeah, so did I." She spooned some potatoes onto her plate, then asked Kurt to pass her the pork chops. "Thank the fucking gods we're not wearing pink!"

"Really, what color did she decide?" For some reason, what the bridesmaids wore had been a huge debate for months now. Jubilee wanted yellow, Kitty wanted bright pink and Rogue wanted green. Angela had been pushing for black, but Storm was right against that.

"Well, in the end we talked her into this kind of middling shade of blue, almost like the hakama to your kimono." She shrugged and handed the plate of meat to me. "But she also told me I am absolutely not allowed to dye my streaks to match." She picked up a lock of her hair, which hadn't been dyed a crazy color for some time, mostly due to the fact that the X-Men were now so much in the public eye. Xavier's interview with CNN after the Colorado avalanche had been repeated worldwide and he was still receiving offers for interviews and other speaking engagements. She frowned at the blond streak she'd been able to talk the Professor into, then shrugged. "I don't know, I thought it would be cute."

"I think you're beautiful no matter what ya do, crazy colors an' all."

"But you have a biased opinion. I've been looking at the same face for a hundred years and I don't see anything special about it."

"Then you ain't lookin' hard enough." I leaned over and gave her kiss, and we passed the rest of the meal making small talk with Kurt and Buzz.

Five weeks later, we had our final fittings for the tuxedos, which made me completely unhappy. Fortunately, Mr. Nicole Kidman was off doing the initial measurements for another wedding, so I was taken care of by a woman who was roughly as feminine as Ernest Borgnine. I couldn't fucking win in that place. But when I came out of the dressing room, she pronounced that I wouldn't need any more adjustments and I could leave. Thank God for small favors.

Xavier cancelled classes for the next week so that we could get the mansion ready for the wedding. As the students were assigned various chores to get the place looking its best, I was feeling restless. I kept eyeing the trees and the new leaves coming out on them and thinking about Evie's vision, which had still not changed since the last variation. If this was a movie, the "bad men" would attack some time after "I do" but before cake. So while everyone else was dusting, polishing, sweeping and washing, I was stalking around the perimeter, checking sensors and wishing Xavier would have agreed with me about the surface to air missiles in the rosebushes all those years ago.

On Wednesday night, the happy couple had their bachelor parties. I have no idea what the ladies did and no matter how hard I tried, Angela, Jubilee, Kitty and Rogue wouldn't tell me a thing about Storm's party. Asking Storm was also asking for a lightning bolt to the ass, so I didn't bother. I figured two could play at that game and refused to tell any of them what happened at Sam's party, which wasn't that big a deal anyway. It wasn't like we could take him out and get him drunk; his metabolism works like my healing factor in that regard and he threw off alcohol as well as I do. But the rest of the guys – Scott, Bobby, Kurt and Hank – still wanted to do the whole bar-hopping thing, so we went. It figured that McCoy would know where all the mutant-friendly bars were in New York City, so he was elected the leader of the bunch and took us to everything from a high-class piano bar (boring) to seedy dives (_outstanding!_) and even a strip club. We ended up almost carrying Scott and Bobby home, neither one of them really able to hold their liquor, but that's the whole reason why the party was three days before the wedding. It was hard not to rib them the next morning when they stumbled into breakfast, looking a bit green and definitely hung over.

Saturday morning finally came and the first thing I noticed was Angela and Evie's absence. I looked around and saw the note on the nightstand, but I didn't need to read it to know that the two of them were off helping Storm get ready. Why it takes a whole gaggle of women several hours to help one person get dressed and made up is beyond me, but it did. I jumped in the shower, trimmed my sideburns and threw on a pair of jeans and a tank before going in search of my woman.

I found where they had sequestered themselves, which was pretty much the entire girl's wing of the dorms. Piotr was helpfully guarding the hallway as the only person with a chance of keeping Sam away from the bride. I nodded to him as I walked by and simply followed the giggles to Marie's room. I knocked on the door and was immediately hailed by a chorus of "you better not be Sam!" from everyone in there. A few seconds later, Angela opened the door about an inch and peeked out, then slipped into the hallway with a smile. "Hey lover, whatcha doing here?"

I looked at her and tried really hard not to laugh. Her already curly hair was rolled up in curlers the size of beer cans and she had a smudge of light-colored powder on her nose. I reached out and swiped it away, which made her flinch. "Wow, you look…fuckin' silly as hell."

She punched me in the arm and I did laugh. "Fuck you too." She looked me over and scowled. "Why aren't you dressed?"

"'Scuse me? The damn thing don't start for another two hours!"

"Trust me, that time will fly. And you have to help seat the guests as they arrive, which will be in about an hour if I have the time right."

I scowled, but smiled when she leaned up to kiss me. "Fine, I'll go put the damn thing on. Can't fuckin' believe I'm doin' this."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll look handsome as all hell. Now go! I have to finish primping." I gave her another quick kiss and went back to the suite. Twenty minutes later, I had everything on except the bow tie. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't tie the stupid thing and I was seriously considering shredding it and telling Sam I had a horrible accident with the disposal in the kitchen. But I knew that if he didn't kill me, my woman would, so I went back towards the women in search of help. What I found would have been the height of funny if it hadn't been kind of pathetic at the same time. Sam was trying his level best to get past Piotr, but Colossus was in his steel form and at least a match for Atlas in strength. I shook my head and pulled them apart.

"Logan, he won't let me past to talk to Ororo." Sam pleaded.

I raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"And what? I want to talk to my almost-wife!"

"You know how it is, my friend," Piotr said as he crossed his arms, "they have their superstitions and you can not go down there."

"I have a right to talk to her!"

I slung my arm over his shoulder and steered him away. "Look, you know how women get. You got a message ya want me to give her?"

"I…no, I don't. It's just…" he lowered his voice and leaned in to me, "Logan, I keep thinking she'll change her mind at the last minute or that she's already gone or something."

It took all of my willpower not to laugh. "Sam, listen to me. I know she's still in there, I can hear her and I can smell her. So find Scott, go outside and try to relax, all right?"

He nodded and went back down the hallway. I shook my head and remembered with extreme clarity why I never wanted to have another wedding, no matter how much I loved the woman in question. Unbidden, my mind flashed back to the day I had married Elena so long ago. It had been a small ceremony, just the two of us, a few close friends and her family. My family had been dead for years by then, but I didn't need any of them there that day. The fact that it ultimately ended in tragedy for us wasn't the point of this memory coming up on me. The point was that I hadn't thought I'd ever be happier than I was the day I took Elena as my wife, a point that has since been proven wrong.

I shook my head to clear it and continued back to Marie's room and tapped on the door. Again, the chorus chimed out, only this time they said "get outta here Sam!" I chuckled to myself. Women are so weird. "It ain't Sam, open the door." I said.

The door was all but flung open and Evie leapt into my arms. "Daddy! Look, I have a flower crown!" My daughter looked beautiful in her pale blue dress with white carnations and blue delphiniums in her hair.

I laughed and gave her a kiss. "Now you're really a princess, princess!" I said.

"I ain't half as pretty as Aunt 'Roro or Mommy." She leaned in and whispered loudly. "Mommy's wearing _makeup_."

I raised an eyebrow. In all the time I've known her, I can count on one hand the number of times Angela put on more than a little eyeliner and those were all back in Detroit at her club. She always said she didn't have time to fuss with all that crap just to have to wash it off later. "How'd that happen?"

Evie giggled. "Aunt Marie threatened to knock her out with her skin if Mommy didn't let Kitty put some on her."

"Aunt Marie can be kind of scary when she wants to be." I replied and Evie nodded gravely. I gave her another kiss and set her down. "Can you get your Mommy for me? I need help."

"She'll never believe _that_, but ok." She turned as she closed the door and pointed at the floor. "Wait right there." I pointed to the same exact spot and cocked my head and she nodded before closing the door.

I waited a few minutes, hands in my pockets and finally Angela opened the door. "I have _no_ idea what this is about Logan, but…whoa." She stopped mid-rant and looked at me like I was lunch, whistling. "Well, well, well. We may not make it to the ceremony after all."

I just stood there and gaped like an idiot. Her dress was just above knee-length in a shade of blue with an almost silvery sheen to it. It clung to her like a second skin and I didn't need to touch it to know it was pure silk. Her hair was pinned up in a way that looked really complicated, with little strands framing her face and a few long ringlets hung down her back along with the blue and white ribbons from the flower circlet her hair was woven around. She was also wearing silver high heels, which only made her three inches taller but what they did for her legs…yeah, she was right. We might not make it to the ceremony. "Uhh, wow."

She smirked at me in that way that said "just wait until we're alone" and I had to beat down my inner animal, who just wanted to sling her over my shoulder and carry her off. She caught the low growl that escaped my throat and slipped into the hallway, her finger over my lips. "Shh lover, calm down," she whispered, her voice husky, "we have to wait at least until after cake."

I tried to listen to her, but her lips were painted a dark red just a bit lighter than a black cherry, which set off her fair skin rather well. She wasn't pale like one of them Goth kids – we had a couple of them running around the mansion – but a tan just never took on her for long and she didn't go out of her way to try. I leaned in and gave her a deep kiss. "Darlin', you look good enough to eat."

"Mm, I'm gonna hold you to that later," she replied, pressing her forehead to mine. "Lucky for you this lipstick's kiss-proof." I growled again and leaned in for another one, but she dodged me this time. "So, Evie said you needed help with something?"

"Oh, uh yeah I do." I said and fumbled the evil bow tie out of my pocket. "Can't work this damn thing."

She laughed and took it from me. "Turn around, get on your knees." I raised an eyebrow and she laughed again. "You're a foot taller than me, Logan. I can't put this on you if you're standing."

"Oh." I did as she asked and she slid the thing under the collar of my shirt. Less than a minute later, she gave it a tug and patted me on the shoulder. I looked down and there it was, a perfect bow tie. "How'd you do that so fast?"

She shrugged as I stood up. "My dad taught me how to do it when I was little. I guess it's just one of those things I never forgot how to do."

"Lucky me." I wrapped my arms around her and she sighed as she leaned into my chest. "How come you never talk 'bout your family?"

"I dunno. I guess because they've been gone so long, there's no point. You never talk about yours either, not since the memories came back."

"True. Same reasons too." A burst of giggles, followed by a frantic shout came through the door and I smiled. "Sounds like they need ya in there."

She sighed again. "A maid of honor's work is never done." She kissed me again and turned to the door, giving me another once-over and a wink. "I'll see you later sexy."

I smiled and headed out to the garden where the ceremony was going to take place. Sam and Scott were there, the former with a large glass of Scotch in his hand. It wouldn't get him drunk, but it seemed that having something to do with his hands did wonders to keep him calm. I clapped the groom on the back and smiled. "So, you ready?"

"I've been ready since last month." He tugged at his collar, which I could sympathize with. "Tried to get her to take off to Vegas, but she wouldn't have it, said the invitations were already out and all that crap." He gulped his Scotch and Scott took the glass from him to refill it. "If I'd known it was gonna be like this, I would have just flown her to Vegas and married her a year ago."

"Oh relax Sam, you'll be fine." Scott said as he handed him the glass. "You'll get one look at her and all the other stuff will just go away."

"I hope so." He mumbled and sipped his drink. Hank and Bobby showed up a few minutes later and I would have thought a tuxedo would look even sillier on the doc than it did on me, but he managed to pull it off nicely. We stood around chatting for a while until the first guests started to show up and the rest of us had work to do. For the next hour, I had to endure everything from a charming old woman who said I was the spitting image of her grandson (poor kid) to a little girl of about six who wanted to know if I was the Wolfman. Scott nearly gave himself a hernia laughing about that one, though he was smart enough to stop when I glared at him and showed the very tips of my claws between my knuckles. At a few minutes after noon, Kurt went to the front of the assembly and I knew it was time.

Sam took his place at the front with the elf while the rest of us went back inside the patio doors to pick up the girls. I paused and gave Angela another quick kiss before taking Rogue's gloved arm, who looked gorgeous in her own right. Even Jubilee looked amazing, clinging to Hank's arm and smiling. The two of them and Kitty wore dresses of the same basic style as Angela's, but the color was a bit darker and didn't have the silvery sheen to it. Evie was adorable, holding tightly to the hand of a boy named Cory Landry who was a year older than her and looked about as happy to be in his tux as I was. But it wouldn't be fair if I didn't talk about Storm.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still certain Angela is the most beautiful woman on the planet, even if I'm a bit biased. But the only way to describe Storm that day is absolute perfection. Her dress was white silk the exact same color as her hair in a halter style (as Angela explained to me later), but the back was completely open to just above her hips. Her hair had also been done up in some complicated way, and when I looked closely I could see a circlet of silver with diamonds woven into it; she had no need of a veil with that hair of hers. She stood next to the Professor, clinging to his hand with a faint shimmer of tears in her eyes. I gave her a wink and she smiled at me. Then the music started and the ceremony began.

The actual ceremony only took about twenty-five minutes and went off without a hitch. Of course, with all these mutants all over, it would have gone very badly if anyone had actually stood up to protest when Kurt asked if anyone had a reason why they shouldn't be joined. Finally, the "I do's" were said, the rings exchanged and Kurt pronounced them man and wife. A huge cheer went up and the happy couple was pelted with rose petals as they took their walk back down the aisle.

I had to suffer the indignity of wedding pictures for the next hour while the senior students rearranged everything outside for the reception. Rahne finally announced that everything was ready and we went back outside for the party. Sam and Storm had to do the whole required mingling thing, but after the wedding party was introduced we got to sit down and relax. First thing I did was take off the evil bow tie and I unfastened the top button of my shirt before heading right to the bar. The hired bartender tried handing me a Budweiser when I asked for a beer, but I just raised an eyebrow and leaned in to him. "I know the maid o' honor's got a secret stash back there," I growled, "so just gimme one o' those." He glanced over to where Angela was standing with Evie and a woman I knew was Sam's agent for his art and she nodded. The guy shrugged and popped open one of those wonderful Waterloo's that Ricky sent her every couple of months. I thanked him and went to sit down.

Angela came over a few minutes later and sat on my lap, kicking off her shoes in the process. "Gods above, I hate high heels!" She breathed as she took the bottle out of my hand, tossing back half of it in one go. "I see the tie's missing already."

"Yup," I replied, retrieving my beer, "damn thing flew right off o' me, couldn't stop it if I tried."

She threw her head back and laughed. "Oh Logan, you are the most impossible man I've ever known." She kissed me softly, rubbing her nose against mine. "I just love you."

"Mm, I love you too darlin'." We sat there for a while, just watching people go by. Dinner was served, buffet style and we all loaded up on an odd mixture of African and Jewish cuisine, which somehow managed to work together better than I thought it would. It was getting towards early evening and some of the people who had arrived with small children were leaving, since the little tykes were wound up enough as it was without adding dancing and cake into the mix. Xavier had offered rooms for many of them, but they'd all begged off out of respect for the rest of the school, saying it wasn't fair to inflict so many riled up kids on the rest of us. I was secretly grateful, but most people don't hear things the way I do and to be honest, their shrill screams were already grating on my nerves.

The sun started to go down about an hour or so later and except for students, the only guests left were adults. The cake had been cut (with no smashing, not for these two. Not their style.) and the only thing left was the bouquet and garter. Kitty and Rogue, with Evie and Jubilee pushing from behind, forcibly dragged Angela to the terrace for the bouquet toss. What they hadn't counted on was the fact that she had her shoes off, so as the flowers arced towards her, she simply dodged out of the way, allowing the bouquet to land neatly in Sarah's waiting hands. When the guys tried to come for me and force me up there in the same way, I calmly slid out the middle claw on my left hand as I took a long pull from my beer. Not wanting to risk anything, they backed off and it was Remy who wound up catching it.

I danced with Evie, Angela, Rogue and Storm before the night was over, just little slow ones where you really just walk around in a circle and let the girl lead. The DDR incident aside, I'm not much of a dancer anyway, so no one else really pushed it except my daughter. I just scowled at anyone who even looked like they were going to comment on that, which kept them quiet enough on the topic. As things were winding down, I was sitting at the head table, looking at Angela in the fading light as she watched the people on the dance floor with a half-smile on her face. She must have sensed me staring at her, because she turned to me and gave me a lazy grin. "Penny for your thoughts." She murmured.

"Are they worth that much?" I replied, finishing my beer.

"Mm, more than that, but I'm too happy to argue about it right now." I continued to take her in, the way the light breeze blew through her hair, the last rays of sun catching the blond streaks and turning them to gold. She blushed suddenly and looked down. "Stop that, you're embarrassing me." She said.

"Angela I…" I swallowed hard as she raised her eyes back to me, looking confused. "Marry me."

That definitely took her by surprise as her eyes popped wide open. "What?"

I took her tiny hands in mine and stroked my thumbs across her knuckles. "Marry me. I know we said we don't need to an' all that, but…I want to, I really do. Marry me."

"Logan, you're just all caught up in all of this. Tomorrow morning…"

"No, I'm serious. An' I don't mean next week or anythin', not til this thing Evie keeps seein' is over but…Angela, I mean it. Marry me."

She looked down, her hands tightened on mine and I was suddenly afraid I'd really fucked up. She had always been so adamant that she didn't need to, didn't want to, it didn't mean that much to her, so maybe just coming out with it out of the blue like this hadn't been very smart. But something in me said it was the _right_ thing to do, this was the right time. My gut had never led me wrong before and I hoped this wasn't the first time it did. After about a minute, she looked up at me and I saw the tears shimmering in her eyes. "You really want to do this?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I really wanna do this. More'n anythin'."

She smiled. "Ok. Ok, yeah I'll marry you." She threw herself into my arms and kissed me hard, her arms tight around my neck. Suddenly filled with joy, I stood up and twirled her around, making her laugh. "You and your impulses, always getting me in trouble."

I grinned and kissed her again. "Yeah well, what can I say? Just seems like the right time, ya know?"

"I do." I relaxed my arms and she slid to the ground, then bent over and picked up her shoes. "Come on, Evie's staying with Wendy tonight. Let's go celebrate our engagement." She didn't have to ask me twice.

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**AN: **Ok...i can't remember who it was, but i do recall receiving a review where someone asked when Logan and Angela were gonna take the plunge and i specifically said "they aren't"...in fact, for those of you who have been here for the long haul, it's been an ongoing theme...now, in my defense, there are times when i don't feel like i'm writing so much as taking dictation and sometimes, scenes go wildly off the course i had originally thought they would take...and dammit, no matter how hard i try, i can't wrench them back on the track i had planned...:) So, AT THE TIME, it was true...i had no control over this abrupt change of plans...:) Special thanks to all the usual suspects, but especially to theNightEnchantress and TnTornado for reviewing...:) 

**Now, this chapter COULD have been posted sooner, except i didn't get any new reviewers...and there's only 3 chapters to go after this...it could take up to TWELVE DAYS for those to come out, unless someone takes a deep breath, hits the review button and says hello or something...come on, do you really want to wait TWELVE DAYS for this to finish?**


	25. Chapter 25

**Special Note:** Everyone give thanks to **Chris** for hitting the button and (literally!) saying "hello or something"...:) And as my way of saying thanks for the review, here's the new chapter as promised...enjoy!

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Chapter 25

(Logan)

We didn't make a huge announcement about being engaged or take out an ad in the school bulletin, but we did tell Marie, since she was really part of our family. Of course, a secret like that was too much for her to keep, so she told Kitty, who told Jubilee, who told EVERYBODY. I've always said that if you want to get the word out about something, all you need is Jubilation Lee. She puts any gossip rag to shame with that mouth of hers. So by the end of the week, when Sam and Storm returned from their honeymoon, there wasn't a soul within five miles of the school that didn't know.

It took a bit longer for Angela to explain to everyone that we weren't actively planning anything until after Evie's vision finally came to pass, if it ever did. We figured there was no point, especially if that Phoenix-Jean clone showed up with them. We had no reason to believe that anything Evie saw wasn't accurate, but there's always the chance something had changed in the meantime, something that was small at the time but would have a huge effect on the outcome. At least, that's what I was hoping. I was also hoping they'd just change their minds completely and not come at all, but the realistic – cynical, Angela would say – side of me knew otherwise.

So, it was in the spirit of keeping them away that we made the decision to hit another base. It was one of the bigger ones, tucked away in the wide nothingness of the Yukon, and based on the stuff in the Weapon X file, was pretty much always working. After they'd moved the bulk of their work from Alkali Lake, most of it had been taken to the Yukon facility. With a bit of help from Sage and Buzz, we managed to find the most current financial statement for the place and based on the number of employees and their supposed work there versus their expenses, there was definitely something still going on up there.

Because of the possibility that there were mutants in various stages of experimentation up there, we took a big chance and asked Hank if he would come with us. Besides being a doctor, he was also a good person to have at your back in a fight. Rogue and Remy had already agreed to come with us, so involving another X-Man didn't seem so bad anymore. I was sitting in the lab with him, giving him the pitch, but he interrupted me before I could finish. "Logan, you don't have to go on," he said, "you had me at 'hey Blue, we want you to come with us'."

"Are ya sure?" I asked. "I mean, it's gonna be dangerous, there'll be all kinds o' fightin' I'm sure. An' who knows if we'll be able to actually save anyone?"

"The important thing for me is to try. I know I am only human, only able to do so much. I am not Josh Foley, a miracle worker. But I will do what I can to assist you and those we may save." He clapped his hands and stood up. "So, when do we leave?"

And that's how, a week later, I found myself on the jet with Kyro and Hank piloting, Rogue and Remy strapped in just behind them while I comforted Angela in her typical panic. By taking the bird sub-orbital, we could make the trip in a fraction of the time it would take at normal altitudes, but the turbulence was several degrees greater. Flying lower was smoother, but took longer. Either way, Angela didn't like it, didn't want to be on the plane any longer than she had to be and at least she knew the Blackbirds were completely safe.

We landed a few klicks to the west of the base, hiding the jet in a stand of Scotch pines at the base of a fairly large hill. It was still very much winter up here, a fact that Angela grumbled about every five minutes or so. I wasn't bothered at all, this was my old stomping ground and I had really missed the deep snows and biting cold in a way. Hank was also fine, but with all that fur to keep him warm it wasn't a surprise. Kyro was already shifted into his feral form, so his own fur was doing a good job of insulating him from the chill. Rogue and Remy looked uncomfortable, but neither one of them complained. Still, because of the snow, it took us nearly two hours to get within sentry range of the base.

I scented the first of them long before I saw them, so I stopped the group and called them into a huddle under a huge pine. "All right, sentries are up ahead a little bit, so it's code names only from now on." Everyone nodded and I continued. "Totem, Hellcat, take the high road. Rogue, in the air as close to the treetops as you can without bein' seen. Beast, Gambit with me."

Angela and Kyro scrambled to their positions while Rogue pushed off the ground elegantly and took to the air like she'd flown her whole life. Once they were aloft, Hank and Remy took position just behind and to either side of me and we moved out. We got within visual distance a little while later and the three of us hid behind the trunks of the massive trees. There were four of them, huddled together in a knot and I shook my head. Again, the remoteness of the location coupled with the fact that we hadn't hit anything in a pretty long time had made them sloppy, which would be the last mistake they ever made.

I signaled to my companions on the ground as I tapped the com in my ear. "Totem, Hellcat, Rogue. Four sentries at two o'clock from my position."

"Copy Wolverine." Totem replied. "How do you want to do this?"

I frowned in thought. I really didn't want to involve Hank any more than was strictly necessary. "Beast, hang back and only come in on my or Hellcat's say-so. Same goes for you Rogue."

"Roger that." He said, but I could hear the disappointment in his voice. Marie also came back with an affirmative reply.

"Hellcat, Totem, move on my mark. Gambit, with me." We broke cover and went on the move again, the only sound we made was the creaking of snow beneath our boots but it was masked by the sound of the wind blowing through the trees and the chatter of the sentries. When we got within fifteen feet of them, I shouted "now!" into the com, popped my claws and ran in to face them.

The skirmish was over almost as soon as it began. Angela and Kyro dropped out of the trees onto the backs of two of them as Remy took one out with his charged-up staff and I swept my claws through the neck of the last one. The four of us stood there looking around for a moment. "Is that it?" Angela asked as she kicked one of the bodies.

"Seems that way." I replied with a shrug, scenting the air, but I didn't detect anything except the people in my group, the bodies on the ground and the nature smells I expected. "Didn't even break a sweat."

Hank approached and a frown crossed his face when he saw the dead sentries. "Was all of this really necessary?" He asked.

I opened my mouth, a snarling retort on my lips, but Rogue beat me to the punch. "With all due respect McCoy, we ain't here to socialize. We leave anyone alive and they'll be able to report back to their superiors that the three of 'em have backup now and who we are. We can't have that."

"What she's trying to say is that it's too risky to leave anyone who can identify the three of you." Angela supplied helpfully. "Totem, Wolverine and I have done our best to avoid the news cameras, keep our names out of the papers, but even we've slipped through a few times. But we're not concerned about the Director leaking our names to the press. I'm sure he knows that if it came out that we were responsible for the wholesale slaughter of all these people, we'd counter his move by showing the world what was done to us with their tax dollars." She shrugged and spread her hands. "So, for us, it's a stalemate. You three, on the other hand…"

She didn't need to finish her statement. Hank took a deep breath, looked down at his feet, over to the bodies and finally back to us. "This is why you didn't want to involve anyone, isn't it? The real reason. You've been trying to protect us."

I nodded. "Got it in one, doc. You're a known an' respected scientist, no reason for ya to be sloggin' through the snow with us. It's taken us how many years to get the world to stop spittin' on us as we walk down the street? An' a big chunk o' that's cuz o' what the X-Men have done. Imagine what'd happen if they thought the whole team was in on this."

"My God." Hank breathed, the full gravity of what we'd been doing finally hitting him for the first time. "I never thought…this was about a lot more than just revenge all the time, wasn't it?"

I nodded as Angela spoke. "Yes Blue, it was. I mean, it started that way for sure. But when we found that woman nine years ago that they'd just started the bonding process on, we knew it was only a matter of time before they branched out. We didn't know then that they'd already done that, when they cloned Jean and later Logan. Once they knew they could replicate _him_, what was there to stop them from simply isolating certain aspects of him, like his healing factor? If they introduced that into someone like Rogue, you'd have the perfect close-quarters assassin. Or give it to someone like Mystique, who could make it look like someone _else_ did the job. The three of us, just the way we are, we're more or less unstoppable. Drop us in a hot zone and we'll be pretty much the only ones who make it out. But what if you could drop ten of us? Fifty? A thousand?" Her eyes hardened even as Hank's grew wider. "What sets us apart from the rest isn't the claws or the animal instincts, it's the fact that we're very hard to kill. We always make it through, no matter what."

Hank shook his head in disbelief. "How much of this is in the files you've confiscated over the years?"

She shrugged. "Most of it. The rest we found out by interrogating scientists, project leaders, military officers. They haven't perfected the process yet," she gestured vaguely towards the base, "but this is where they've been working on it."

I stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We can set 'em back twenty years by takin' this place out. But if we're gonna do that, we gotta get movin'. They'll be checkin' in on these guys soon an' I don't wanna be here when they do."

"There's something else you're not telling me, isn't there?"

"Plenty, but we ain't got the time right now. Let's move." Angela and Kyro scrambled back up into the trees as Rogue took to the air. I gave Hank's shoulder a squeeze before releasing him, then turned and started back in the direction of the base with Remy hot on my heels. After a moment's pause, Hank came as well, but I knew that he wasn't completely satisfied with the answers he'd been given. We'd explain more once we got back to the mansion, but what I'd said was true. Now was not the time.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took us about seven hours all told to finish up on the base. The good news was that we managed to save eight mutants, three of which were children. The bad news was what happened to Hank.

We'd all hoped that enough time had passed since our last assault that they would have stopped using the trank darts that had nearly cost us Kyro at the Washington State facility, but we had no such luck. I've always said that a little paranoia is a healthy thing, because it keeps you alert and ready for anything. Naturally, I didn't want the Weapon X people to be ready for us, but I'd planned for just about everything in that regard. What I couldn't have known, no one could have known, was how Hank would react to whatever concoction they put in those darts.

It happened early on, just as we were entering the underground portion of the base. We'd taken out about a dozen armed guards in an anteroom just off the main stairs and Hank had shown that he did know there was a time and place for extreme force when a soldier managed to get the drop on Totem as he was engaged with two other men. The kid pulled the trigger at point-blank range, hitting Kyro directly in the back of the skull. It's a minor miracle that he wasn't hit by the ricochet, but it hadn't escaped Hank's notice how badly that would have gone if it had been Rogue or Gambit instead of one of us that had been shot. I didn't even realize that he'd jumped into the fray until I heard him snarling and I took a precious second to glance over just in time to see him elbow the kid in the face hard enough to shatter every bone and he dropped like a sack of bricks, no longer breathing. A few seconds later, the rest of the guards were dead.

"Ya get it now Blue?" I asked as I wiped blood off my forehead.

"Yes, I do," was all he said, his eyes hard and his jaw set. I knew then he'd be all right.

We regrouped and started down a long hallway that my nose told me led to a laboratory, always my favorite first thing to destroy. As we rounded a corner, I heard the faint pops of air-powered weapons followed by a series of grunts from both Hank and Totem. Remy was already on it, charging a handful of cards and tossing them expertly down the dimly lit hallway. The explosions barely covered the screams of the men that were caught in them and from the sound of it at least a few of them didn't live long enough to care how much it hurt. Totem snarled as he pulled a couple darts out of his arm, then leaned against the wall to wait for his healing factor to deal with the tranks. Hank, on the other hand, had other problems.

He'd been hit by at least four of them, but only two managed to get through his thick fur to actually inject their poison into his system. Rather than knocking him out, the concoction had the opposite effect and he was overcome by a major case of the jitters. Ever the scientist, he pocketed the darts "for further analysis back at the lab" and we continued on with the mission.

Seven hours later, we were boarding the jet with our usual bundles of files and disks in addition to the eight mutants we saved. Hank was no longer twitching like someone had shoved a live wire up his ass, but he was complaining that he was viciously hungry. He tore into the emergency supply of protein bars that are kept on every jet and ate all of them before we got back to the mansion. They tided him over long enough for him to get his patients into the infirmary and settled in for overnight observation, but I'm guessing they soon wore thin as he started in on his secret Twinkie stash as soon as his last patient was calmed down and comfortable. I shook my head in amazement and grinned, then retreated back to the suite for a shower and sleep.

About four hours later, after falling asleep in a tangle of sweaty limbs and sheets with my woman, I was awakened by a crashing sound downstairs. I gently extracted myself from Angela's arms and quickly pulled on a pair of sweats, then quietly stalked out of the room. As I made my way down the stairs, I could hear voices in the kitchen. I strained my ears and grinned when I realized it was Hank and Sam and I could only assume that the doc was still suffering from his post-trank munchies, while Atlas had probably just wandered in for more fuel to keep his hyperactive metabolism going. I was about to turn around and go back to bed, but their sudden burst of laughter made me curious enough to continue to the kitchen.

"Are you sure they've been chilled long enough?" I heard Sam ask.

"Absolutely," Hank replied, "this Magic Shell stuff doesn't take long to set up and the whipped topping was already cold."

"Oh, I see you are right my friend. Hand me the Nerds, please."

Whipped topping? Magic Shell? Nerds? Did I even _want_ to know? I caught a whiff of something in the air that smelled like…bacon? Even as part of my mind was screaming to just back away slowly, another part wanted to know what the hell they could possibly be doing with whipped cream, Nerds and bacon at the same time. I turned the corner and stepped into the kitchen, then stopped dead at the sight before me.

Don't get me wrong, I've eaten a lot of crazy shit in my day to survive, everything from grubs to raw fish caught fresh in a stream, but I have never once considered the creation I saw the two men in the kitchen were about to eat. From what I could smell, they'd taken a Butterfinger and a Snickers bar, glued them together with Nutella, wrapped them in bacon(!), smothered them with maple syrup and then topped them with Nerds and whipped topping. They had apparently chilled these things, then coated them with Magic Shell and sprinkled more Nerds over the top for garnish. I could feel my pancreas screaming in agony at the thought, healing factor or not.

"What the hell are you guys doin'?" I asked and they both stopped with the nasty-looking things halfway to their mouths.

Sam was the first to answer. "Oh these? Umm, well…you see, I came in for a snack and I saw that Hank was already here, experimenting with the bacon and the candy bars."

Hank nodded, a huge grin on his face. "My good friend Sam here then suggested that I try adding Nutella as a binding agent, but I thought the maple syrup would set off the bacon nicely. He agreed."

I held up a hand to stop them. "Really, you don't hafta tell me any more, I can smell it. What's got me wonderin' is how you can actually eat 'em."

"It's actually quite good," Sam said and held out his plate, "Would you like to try one?"

Now I _did_ back away slowly, both hands in front of my now. "Hell no. I've eaten some fucked up shit, but there ain't enough money in the world to get me to try _that._ Hell, there's potheads out there that wouldn't consider it."

"Is the mighty Wolverine afraid of a mere snack food?" Hank taunted with a grin.

"Look bub, I know what's food an' what ain't. There ain't nothin' 'mere' about that thing, it's a diabetic coma waitin' to happen. You enjoy yourselves, I'm fine." I turned on my heel and beat it back to the suite, the sounds of their laughter echoing in my ears. Some days it just don't pay to check out a weird sound in the kitchen.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next day, Hank had finally shaken off whatever the side effects were of that trank he'd been hit with. He was in the process of analyzing the darts as well as a sample of his own blood in an attempt to figure out what happened. I asked him how long it would be before he had an answer, but his best guess was a week at the outside. I wasn't too worried about it, as long as he left the bacon and candy bars alone from now on. My stomach still turns to this day just thinking about that.

With eight new patients to take care of, he called in Dr. Endicott to assist him for a few days getting them back into shape. Two of the adults were a married couple and one of the kids was theirs. They hadn't been at the base very long as far as they could remember, less than a month by the woman's calculations. That was the only good news to come out of this. On the flipside, the other two children had been kidnapped and Hank reported that the Professor had been down to see them earlier in the day for a quick telepathic scan. During the scan, he discovered that the children had been taken by force from their families as they were traveling down some pretty remote Canadian roads, their parents killed. Xavier had immediately set out to see if they had any remaining family, though I know he was prepared to take them on as his wards if he had to.

The remaining adults – two men and one woman – had been there much longer than the rest, though none of them had been put through the bonding process yet. After a careful analysis of their DNA, Hank determined that they had been injected with some kind of serum that had been created using my DNA to give them my healing factor. Otherwise, they were unremarkable as mutants go. The woman had the ability to generate heat (but not fire), one man could produce small bursts of electricity ("not even enough to power a calculator," he joked) and the other man's skin was stretchy like rubber. This proved to us that the Weapon X people were tired of looking for mutants like me, Angela and Kyro and were setting out to just _make_ them.

The three of us walked into the infirmary just as Hank was finishing his final once-over of the three adults. He smiled when we entered and motioned for us to wait in his office. A few minutes later, he followed. "Ah, the Deadly Trio. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Deadly Trio?"

"My own little nickname for the three of you," he explained as he settled into his chair, "for when you went out on your personal missions."

Angela giggled and Kyro just smirked, but I was not as amused. "Hey, you know we only did what we had to do."

"I know, my friend, much more than I did before." He looked at Angela with a soft expression even though he was speaking to all of us. "I do hope that you will find it in yourselves to forgive me for any misunderstandings we may have had in the past in regards to those missions."

I was confused, but Angela just smiled. "Of course, Blue, no worries."

He returned the smile, then clapped his hands. "So! What brings you here today?"

We looked at each other, but it was Kyro who started. "Doctor, we did promise to tell you the rest of what we suspect is going on within Weapon X." He said simply.

"Yes, I hadn't forgotten, but I did have patients to take care of, as well as my own difficulties to work through." He glanced at me and I smirked. "Where would you like to begin?"

"The only place we can, the beginning." I said and we launched into our story. It goes something like this-

Eight years ago, the three of us started hitting small Weapon X facilities in an attempt to bring down the people in charge. After our third time out, we determined that taking out the bigwigs wouldn't be enough, the bases and everyone in them had to go. This decision was not made lightly, since Angela and I had long ago had our fill of senseless killing, but when that nameless woman was killed by the very people who wanted to use her, rather than allow her to fall into our hands, we became suspicious. After all, what did it matter if we took her with us? We knew what they were doing, right? We were dead wrong.

That woman, whose name we never learned, who hadn't even been given a code name yet, was the first person who had successfully assimilated my healing factor. After months of hellish testing that could rightly be called torture, they declared her a success and stuck her in the tank. They'd barely gotten started on her when we busted in and the bastards had ripped her out of the tank and decapitated her before we got within ten feet of her. In our bloodlust, we hadn't thought anything of it. It would be another six weeks before Buzz and Sage had the answers for us and that was when we knew we couldn't let anyone live, from military officers to janitorial staff. The bigwigs like to think they can keep their secrets, using things like "need to know" and "eyes only" to keep those lower in the chain from learning anything, but the fact is that people talk. The problem with that is where they talk all the time, no matter who's lurking about and those who are not considered "important" are more or less invisible to the rest. Angela and I had seen it dozens of times back at Alkali Lake, a couple scientists and Stryker going on about so-called "top secret" things in front of some guy mopping the floor. So, we had to assume nothing had changed in that respect and if even one person who knew that it was possible to make anyone as invincible as me was left alive, it was one person too many.

Of course, the cloning project was another huge problem. We'd been freaked out enough when we first read the words "Project Phoenix", but it had gotten much worse now that we knew who that was. Somewhere, probably Area 51, was a twelve-year-old girl who was an exact copy of Jean Grey, but without the advantage of being taught control and ethics by Charles Xavier. As if that wasn't enough, the last batch of files that Buzz had completely analyzed mentioned the clone they made of me. Previous clones hadn't been viable on account of too much genetic manipulation during gestation. The last one they tried, only called X-23, had been created using my DNA in whole, but they'd allowed the fetus to otherwise develop on its own. They were a bit shocked when it came out and it was a girl, but otherwise her DNA was a perfect match for mine. That child was also being held in a "secret facility" and she was about six years old. It was still unknown if she would fully manifest all of my mutations, but apparently she already had the temper and attitude so their hopes were high.

Drunk on their own power, they weren't content to stop there. These people wanted an army of unstoppable, unkillable mutants and waiting for them to grow up and possibly manifest the mutations they wanted simply took too long. So, they picked apart my DNA until they found the parts they wanted the most – healing factor, animal aggression and instincts and heightened senses in that order – and created their serum.

"…And that's all we know for sure." Angela finished. "Now they can turn any mutant into a killing machine with a few injections, a bit of torture and brainwashing. In just under a year."

Hank nodded gravely, his huge hands shaking just a bit. "How many have they done this to?"

"No idea." I said, leaning back in my chair. "For all that there's seven billion people livin' on this rock, there's still plenty o' empty space where they can rebuild their labs an' keep workin'. I'm bettin' that for every three bases we've taken out, at least one new one's been put up somewhere else."

"Or they've moved the work to other facilities we never got to." Kyro added. "And yet, with all that we have accomplished, little Evie's vision has never stopped, only changed. Those men are coming to this school. The only question is when."

Hank took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "Yes, we are well aware of that. Charles attempted to learn a more exact date by scanning Evie's memory of the vision, but he was unable to glean any more clues than those we already have. There was simply nothing in her 'line of vision' that indicated when it would happen."

"Well, if it don't happen before June, it probably won't happen til mid-fall," I said, "which still give us plenty o' time to prepare."

"Yes, we've already changed the evacuation procedure and we are hoping that your daughter will be able to give us some lead time. But what about afterwards? Rebuffing their attack won't stop them for good."

"No, it won't." Angela sighed. "But I am still determined to get into Area 51 sooner or later, if only to get my little girl back and put her to rest. The Director is the key to this whole thing, always has been. If we can just get rid of him, the whole thing will most likely fall apart."

"The foremost question in my mind," Hank said as he stood up, "the one thing I still do not understand, is why is Weapon X going to all this trouble in the first place?"

"Hell doc that's an easy one." I said. "The Director hates mutants, hates us more'n anythin' else on the planet. So he's gonna fight fire with fire." McCoy's eyes narrowed and I heard his heart speed up in his chest. I nodded. "Yep, he wants a mutant army designed to kill their own kind."

* * *

**AN:** As i've said before, inspiration comes from the weirdest places...the candy bar and bacon snack is taken wholly from an episode of "Carson Daly" that i saw at work one night...my beta reader (Turiel Tincdaniel) and i have dubbed it "The Mary Sue of Snack Foods"...have i tried it myself? NO...but it did occur to me that certain drugs can have effects on people that are completely opposite from their intended purpose...some people get sleepy on stimulants, whereas some people get jittery from sedatives...it's a pretty small percentage, but it happens...and i took that knowledge and used it for the sole purpose of getting the Mary Sue of Snack Foods into the story and Hank seemed the most likely person to do it, with Sam as a close second...not to mention, it's a funny scene...:)

Special thanks to everyone, especially the reviewers who were MidLifeCrisis, theNightEnchantress, Levanna, Nataku's Wrath and the aforementioned Chris! MLC: Sent you a PM, don't know if you got it...but to answer your review...no, i don't and you'll see why by the end of the story...:) theNightEnchantress: honestly, i was never going to do it! It just happened and i couldn't get it to make sense when i tried to change it...:) Levanna: Well DUH! It's not like i haven't built up to that all this time...but be prepared for an unexpected twist anyway...:) Nataku's Wrath: I had toyed with the idea of having something happen "after 'I do' but before cake", as Logan was worried about, but i figured there had to be at least ONE DAY where everything went right! Chris: Thanks for the review and your kind words...:)

**Now, there's only TWO chapters left! Do you want to wait 8 days? Or would you rather see this done before the weekend is over? Only YOU can make that happen, if you've never reviewed before...just hit the review button and say hello, and i'll post a new chapter as soon as i get it...as Chris will tell you, it works like a charm!**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

(Angela)

When it all finally happened, we all had our own theories on why it happened. Charles, for all that he's a man of science, held firm to the fate theory, that some things were just simply meant to happen. Hank thought it might have been in direct retaliation to Yukon mission. But the one I held the most faith in was Evie, who just said "I told you they were coming".

The day itself was mostly unremarkable. It was early May and everyone was immersed in reviewing for finals. We had our largest graduating class to date and applications for admission were already pouring in. When I wasn't teaching, grading or being a Mom, I was tucked away in a corner of the Professor's office going over the applications and flagging the ones that met all the necessary criteria. Most notable was the fact that, for the first time, non-mutants were applying for admission. This was a cause for concern amongst some of the staff – mostly Logan and Rogue – but the rest of us felt it was an important step. If normal humans were willing to send their children here for an education regardless of who or what their classmates and teachers would be, it told me that the country had finally realized what we'd been saying all along – mutants really are people too.

Of course, I wasn't the end all, be all of admissions. My whole job there was to simply sort out the most likelies from the absolutely nots. When the first of the applications arrived, fully half from non-mutants, I had a meeting with Charles about scholarships. I know he was a very wealthy man, but I felt that it wasn't really fair for him to foot the entire bill for those who had the academic qualifications but couldn't afford the tuition. He tried to argue with me by saying it was his school so it was his responsibility, but I simply pointed out that I had a small fortune of my own and since he was paying me to teach, I had more than enough money to burn. After an hour of not backing down, he finally gave in and anyone who was admitted for the next school year on scholarship would be doing so on my dime. It was the least I could do and in the end, it allowed me to feel like I was still helping the school even if I couldn't be there myself.

So, that was how I was spending that evening, when the world came crashing down. I had several piles of applications in front of me, the "yes", the "no", the "maybe" and "look again when I'm awake". The last pile had been growing much faster than the others for a while and when I bothered to notice, I realized that the sun was almost done setting. I made another pile, "un-filed" and left the office for dinner.

Again, nothing was remarkable about it. I sat with Logan, Kurt and Buzz like usual, Evie was sitting with Wendy and her other friends from school. Kurt was trying to convince Logan to give over the defense classes to Kyro, because they needed another foreign language teacher. Since Logan's fluent in so many, he was the natural choice, but of course he was totally opposed to the idea. What it boiled down to was that Logan didn't want to be confined to a classroom. Like it or not, the Wolverine inside him would think of a classroom as a cage and didn't want anything to do with it. After about an hour of convincing, cajoling and downright begging, Kurt finally managed to talk him into it. The teleporter didn't exactly cheer, but the grin on his face was more than enough to convince me that he really wanted to.

After dinner, we all went out to the patio for the usual after-dinner brandy ritual. It was a wonderfully mild night, the last chill of winter finally chased away, the air holding just a hint of the summer heat yet to come. I was sitting on the low wall that separates the patio from the lawn, leaning back with my eyes closed and listening to the night sounds. I filtered out the nearer noises of laughter and conversation to focus on the nature sounds further out. Crickets we chirping softly and a few night birds were just starting their nightly hunt. Just inside the trees, I could hear a small animal, maybe a raccoon, as it rooted through the underbrush for something to eat. A light breeze sighed through the trees, carrying with it the murmur of distant traffic. I was so caught up in my reverie that I didn't even hear Logan approach. "Hey darlin'. Penny for your thoughts."

I opened my eyes and smirked at him. "Are they worth that much?"

"Smartass." He sat down and took a long pull from the cigar in his hand. "Pretty night."

"Yeah, it really is." I replied as I snuggled into him. "Might have to go for a run later."

"Oh yeah?" He rumbled, then leaned down and kissed me. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"

I nodded. "Way too long." We sat there in silence and watched our friends as they chatted animatedly, Sam making a sweeping gesture as he described something to Marie, Charles' eyes crinkling as he laughed at something Kurt said. I sighed in contentment as I watched them, a feeling that I still wasn't completely used to but I was really starting to like. "We're so damn lucky." I murmured.

"Yeah, we really are." He took a final drag from his smoke then stubbed it out on the wall. "Never thought I'd get used to somethin' like this, but I gotta admit that I can't remember ever bein' this happy before."

"Me either." We fell back into silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts, when we both caught the sound of someone running, followed by Evie bursting through the patio doors and making a beeline for us.

Logan sprang to his feet, instantly on alert, while I caught our daughter as she skidded to a halt in front of me. "Mommy, they're coming! The bad men are coming!"

Everyone on the patio stopped what they were doing and turned to us. I smoothed her hair away from her forehead and made her look me in the eyes. "When Evie? When will they be here?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, just like Charles had taught her. "Not too long, about an hour I think."

Scott wasted no time, falling neatly into leader mode. "You heard her, people. We have an hour, let's move!"

An hour, but it might as well have been a minute. Either way, this night was going to change us all forever, some in ways no one had foreseen, not even my daughter. Logan turned and scooped her up into his arms and I followed as he trotted through the house with her. "C'mon princess, we gotta get your stuff."

"Daddy, I don't wanna go! I wanna stay here with you and Mommy!"

"I know punkin', but it's not safe for you here. We talked 'bout this."

"I lied." She pouted, even as her face screwed up and she choked back a sob. "I crossed my fingers when I promised I would go."

We hit the door to the suite and I immediately went to her room for the little bag we'd kept mostly packed since her visions started. I didn't even have to strain my ears to hear them talking in the other room. "That don't matter Evie, I'm your father an' if I say this is best for you, then it's true. You know I'd never lie to you."

"How long will I have to be gone?" She whispered. I tossed a few of her favorite toys, her copy of "Cinderella" and the specially shielded hat into the bag.

"I dunno, but we hope not too long." I heard a catch in Logan's voice and paused in my packing. "Genevieve, ya know I love you more'n anything in the whole world, right?"

"More'n Mommy?"

"No, that's a different love. I love her cuz I want to. I love you cuz I got no other choice. _You_ are my whole world an' if I don't know that you're safe, it'll make me crazy. Aunt Rogue an' Uncle Atlas promised to take care of ya for me when you were just a baby, just in case somethin' came up where I couldn't be there."

"Why can't you an' Mommy come with me?" I snuck to the door and watched the two most important people in my life. Evie was sitting on the side of our bed with Logan kneeling in front of her, holding her tight. "Why do you hafta stay here?"

"Cuz this is our home an' we hafta protect it. An' you know the bad men are coming for you, so we hafta send you away. I don't like it, I don't _want_ to leave ya, but if we left too, the bad men would come after us. If they see me an' your Mommy here, they'll think you're here too an' by the time they start lookin' for ya, it'll be too late, you'll be too far away for them to find."

I rushed out of her room to the bathroom and stuffed her toothbrush and hairbrush into the bag, then zipped it up and joined them. I set the bag down gently and knelt with them. Logan wrapped an arm around me to include me in the embrace. "Your Daddy's right, sweetheart. It breaks my heart to let you go like this, but if you got hurt it would stay broken. I promise, we will see you again and when we do, the bad men will be gone forever."

She looked at me, tears staining her face and pressed her forehead to mine. "Promise?"

"I'll pinky swear even." I held out my little finger and she hooked it with hers. "We both love you more than anything else in the world. We need you to be safe. And now you need to be brave and do this for us, ok?"

She nodded but didn't say anything. We sat there for another minute, both Logan and I convinced this would be the last time we'd be together, so we wanted to savor the moment, remember the way our girl felt in our arms. Finally, his arms relaxed and he kissed her fiercely on her forehead. "Time to go, punkin'." He scooped her up and we dashed down to the hangar.

The whole trip from patio to suite to hangar had taken less than ten minutes, but it had felt both much longer and far too short at the same time. Marie, Remy, Ororo and Sam were already in the jet finishing the pre-flight routine. We dashed up the ramp and strapped our daughter into a seat, securing her bag in one of the compartments near the back. Logan turned to Rogue, his expression grave. "I know I don't hafta tell ya to take good care o' her." He said.

"No Logan, you don't." She replied and wrapped her arms around him. They stood there like that for a long moment and I couldn't help but smile. I actually owed Marie a great deal for the way my life had turned out. For so long, Logan had wrapped himself in layers of armor, to protect himself from getting hurt again. Marie had carved a chink in that protection, when she stood up to him on a frozen road in the Canadian wastes and refused to be left behind. She was the first person he'd let in after he left me on a similar road on a brilliant autumn day so long ago and thus, she was special to him. When they broke apart, there were tears standing in her eyes too. "You take care o' these assholes an' bring us home, ya hear?" She said, her accent thickening as it usually did when she was emotional. "I expect y'all to call us in a day or two."

"You bet Marie." Logan replied, his voice thick. "Now get outta here, you're runnin' outta time."

I made my way to the front and hugged Sam and Storm fiercely. Nothing needed to be said, they could read in my eyes everything I was thinking. Take care of her, they said. Take care of her and love her and let her know we love her too. Logan took my place and I embraced Marie myself, giving my most precious treasure to her trust. Lastly, I turned to Remy. "Come here, Cajun." I whispered and he wrapped his arms around me. He murmured something softly to me in French and though I didn't understand the words, the meaning was clear. She'll be safe with us, my friend, and we will protect her with our lives. I couldn't ask for anything more.

"We're ready for takeoff." Storm said, her voice hitching. "You two better go."

I nodded and turned back to my daughter, hugging her fiercely. "Be good for your aunts and uncles, Evie. I love you."

Logan took my place and wrapped his arms around her. "If you see anythin' that might help, you let someone know. They have a secret way of talkin' to everyone here, so you make sure you tell someone."

"I will Daddy." She whispered, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Good girl. I love you, always will. An' this ain't goodbye, you got it? It's see you later."

"I know Daddy. I love you."

Every part of me was screaming to stay on that plane, but I knew I couldn't. I let Logan steer me down the aisle to the ramp and I spared a last glance over my shoulder. Marie was already sitting next to her, holding her close. I had done the best I could here and I knew that. Keeping her away from Weapon X was the most important thing and she was in the best hands I could think of other than my own. I didn't even realize that I wasn't in the hangar anymore until I heard the roar of the engines and the rumbling of the overhead door sliding open. I ran as fast as I could up the stairs and out the patio doors, arriving just in time for the jet to turn and shoot off into the night. I finally broke down and fell to my knees weeping, feeling as though I had just lost a big part of myself. In a way, I had. Logan got down on the ground with me and we just held each other for a few minutes, grieving for the absence of the little girl that had brought our lives to a level neither one of us ever thought we would enjoy again.

Eventually, Logan relaxed his arms and grasped me hard by the shoulders. "Angela, pull it together. We got work to do."

"I miss her already," I whispered, dashing the tears from my eyes, "I feel so empty."

"I know darlin', but they're still comin' an' we gotta be ready for 'em." I looked into his eyes, but they were hard. Logan was letting the Wolverine out and the Hellcat responded immediately. "I know it's hard, but you gotta shut it down for now. She's away from us an' it's all their fault, you got that? It's _their_ fault, not yours."

I could feel the ache in my chest receding as the animal came forward. My vision was slowly coming over in that familiar crimson haze and the night was bathed in blood. I clenched my jaw and stood up. "Come on, let's do this."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Less than half an hour later, all hell broke loose and it happened pretty much the way that Evie saw it. Oh, there were small differences, like the part where we did manage to get all the kids out, so there weren't any holed up in the Danger Room. Gamma team had seen to that, led by Warren and Buzz (who we felt had no place remaining in the mansion, being human and all). We'd also gotten Evie out well in advance of the attack, so that was also different. Lastly, we deployed the teams a bit differently, splitting Alpha into three groups instead of two. Cyclops was leading Beast, Totem, Nightcrawler and Phantom as Alpha One, Logan leading Sage, Echo, Medusa and Colossus as Alpha Two and I was leading Alpha Three, which consisted of Iceman, Shadowcat, Jubilee and Sunfire on loan from Delta.

Beta team was being led by Cannonball, who had Wind Dancer, Wolfsbane, Rictor, Magma and Polaris, while Delta was in the capable hands of Specter with Siryn, Sway, Thunderbird and Dazzler completing that team. The attack came from the back, since that was the only place large enough for them to land choppers and to safely deploy the Sentinel we knew was coming. Since that was the main site of their attack, Alpha One and Two were focusing all their attention there. Alpha Three took on the flanking position, while Beta and Delta were still in the same positions as Evie's vision.

The last major difference was the attack itself. Since we were not being taken by surprise, something they didn't know, we launched an offensive as soon as the first chopper hove into view. Cyclops started firing from the ground as Dazzler – on the roof with Delta – used the pulsing sound of the helicopter blades to generate bursts of light to blind the pilots, but they still managed to maneuver close enough to the ground for the foot troops to rappel out of the choppers and begin the assault. Over the com, Beta team reported that foot soldiers were simply climbing over the walls before they moved in to engage. I was waiting in the woods with my team for the choppers to finish unloading their living cargo so we could come in from behind and get them surrounded.

The battle was fierce, with bullets and grenades flying towards us even as we engaged them at close range. Rather than try to toss the explosives back towards the enemy, we were kicking or tossing them into the woods, while those who could were disabling them using their powers. Still, some of them got through to the mansion proper, where yet another surprise waited for them. Professor X was locked safely inside Cerebro, but he wasn't using the machine itself. Instead, he simply waited for soldiers to enter the house where they would inexplicably fall asleep, forget what they were doing or otherwise find themselves unable to fight. He was the secret weapon that Evie's vision hadn't included at all and it worked like a charm – until it didn't anymore.

We all heard his mental cry, followed by about a dozen soldiers suddenly finding themselves sitting quietly in the lounge as though waiting for something. They quickly shook themselves into action, waking the dozen or so that had been knocked out by his telepathic suggestion. The only thing that could have caused that was if a stronger telepath had knocked out the Professor. Cyclops barked an order over the com for Alpha Two to go inside to secure the mansion. My team responded without needing the order to take up the position vacated by Two and the battle continued. We were outnumbered, but they were outclassed and the moment they realized that, they started to fall back into the woods. I cursed softly when Cyclops ordered us all back into the mansion to regroup.

"Ok, they've gone into the forest, which means that Sentinel is probably on the way," he said and everyone but Logan, Kyro and me nodded. When he noticed that, Scott scowled. "What?"

"They're regrouping too, calling in the Sentinel, but this is the part where they start shelling the house." I said.

"There's no reason, what they want isn't here and the ones who made it inside have been taken care of…again." He looked around at the still forms of the unconscious and dead soldiers that littered the area. "She's not here, so why would they bother?"

"Because they don't know that. They _think_ she's here, so they're gonna do what they have to do to get in. Trust me, they'll be using heavy ordnance on us any second now."

I looked around at the teams and was happy to see that we were mostly ok. Iceman had a small cut on his forehead and Echo had taken a gunshot through one of her wings that Hank had already bandaged. One of Jubilee's eyes was swelling shut, which would turn into a beautiful shiner by the next day and Phantom had lost a tooth when he was a bit slow dodging a fist that had been aimed at Kurt, who had simply teleported away. Since Phantom had been invisible at the time, the man was stunned when his fist connected with something (Phantom's face), but only long enough for Nightcrawler to reappear behind him and knock him out with little effort. There were various other scrapes and bruises, but so far we were all alive. "Cyclops, you have to have Nightcrawler get the Professor out of here and we'll handle the rest."

"Agreed." He said and the blue man teleported away without fuss. He looked over the teams and frowned. "Ok, I want Beta and Delta to go back to their positions until I say otherwise. Hellcat, Iceman, Sunfire, I want you with Alpha Two. Shadowcat and Jubilee with Alpha One."

"Where we goin'?" Logan asked, his leather suit sporting several bullet holes.

"I want your team to stay near the mansion, deploy whoever you want inside, the rest outside. Alpha One, we're going back out as soon as they start firing. Go!"

The teams scrambled and Logan turned to the rest of us. "All right, you heard the man. Echo, Sunfire and Iceman, get outside. You're in charge of 'em Popsicle."

"Roger Wolverine." Bobby replied and the three of them left.

Logan turned to the rest of us and smirked. "Hellcat, take Medusa and Colossus and cover the lower levels. I'm takin' Sage upstairs with me."

"Not gonna pull rank?" Sage commented, glancing at me.

Logan glared at her. "No, I ain't. She can take o' herself. Now go!" We scattered to our positions, though I did look over my shoulder just as Logan did the same. He gave me a small nod and a wink before dashing up the stairs. We'd barely gotten into position near the stairs (the elevator had been disabled long before they showed up) when the mansion was rocked to the foundations by the impact of something large and explosive. For the second time that night, all hell broke loose.

As the first volley died down, I heard the heavy sound of boots approaching the house. I sent Medusa downstairs to cover the really secret stuff and had Colossus cover the opposite end of the first floor from me. Iceman's team did what they could to keep them out, but about half a dozen still managed to slip past them and into the mansion proper. Half of them went straight up the stairs, while the remaining three spread out to cover the first floor. Perfect.

I slipped out all my claws even as I faded into the deep shadows formed by the alcove near the stairs to the lower levels. I crouched low, hoping that the soldier wouldn't have the sense to sweep lower than his own waist level with his light or have infrared gear on. I lucked out on the latter, but this guy had apparently been briefed on the possible mutants he may discover and their abilities and the first thing he did was point his gun with attached flashlight towards the floor. I was already on the move by the time the light hit the spot where I'd been waiting and I hit him hard and high with all of my weight. He was a pretty big guy, at least a foot taller than me and outweighing me by about ninety pounds. However, he hadn't been prepared for two hundred pounds of snarling woman to come flying at his face and I managed to topple him over. His rifle was useless with me right on top of him like that, so he fumbled out a sidearm and brought it up. He wasn't quite fast enough and I slashed his forearm open from elbow to wrist, severing tendons and shredding muscles and blood vessels alike. He shrieked in horror as blood sprayed from the wound and I turned my head in time to be missed by most of it. I grabbed him by the throat and pulled his face close to mine. "Who-_what_ are you?" He stammered.

"The last fucking thing you'll ever see." I replied and tore his throat out. I heard shouting at the other end of the hall and had just turned to assist Colossus when I saw two figures flying gracelessly down the hall to land in a heap in near the lounge. I stalked over to them, but neither one was moving. I kicked one in the ribs, then my head shot up as I heard another person approaching. I relaxed when I saw it was Colossus. "Nice work kiddo." I said with a smirk.

"I learned from the best." He replied with a grin. A split second later, we heard Logan shout "incoming!" and the sounds of his claws connecting with flesh, followed shortly by the forms of three soldiers plummeting from the third floor balcony. They landed with a wet thud and didn't move.

Sarah came up beside me and we contemplated the bodies for a moment, then shrugged. I looked up and chuckled. "Nice work."

"I am the best, you know." Logan replied with a chuckle of his own.

"Second best, I came first."

"Well they always have to make a rough draft before…"

"Finish that statement and we'll have more than words later." I warned playfully.

"Bring it, darlin'." I heard his claws retract with a snikt and the sound of his feet on the stairs. "We're comin' back down." I waited at the base of the stairs for them, arms crossed, smirk firmly in place. He stopped on the last step so he towered over me by more than two feet. "Somethin' on your mind?"

"All kinds of things," I replied, being more than a little cheeky, "but I think I'll start with…" I never got to finish the statement as a grenade crashed through the patio doors and exploded before it hit the floor. Everyone dove for cover as soon when they heard the glass shatter, but it was a fragmenting grenade and shrapnel flew through the air, breaking more glass and priceless antiques, and I heard Sarah's agonized scream. Logan was up in a flash and running to her even as two more grenades followed the first, also detonating before they hit the floor and I knew he'd gone to her to cover her with his own mostly indestructible body before she could take more damage. Colossus had wisely grabbed Sage and gone metal as the first one was sailing towards us, so I knew they were both all right. I felt a burning sensation as a bit of shrapnel tore through my scalp and blood poured enthusiastically from the wound. I reached up to check it, but it didn't feel too bad. When the smoke finally cleared, I quickly looked around and went immediately to Logan's side.

"How is she?" I asked even as I tried to visually assess her condition.

"She's hit in the leg pretty bad. We gotta get her downstairs." He tapped his earpiece and spoke quickly. "Alpha Two to Alpha One, Medusa is down, repeat Medusa is down. Send med support asap."

"Copy Alpha Two, help is on the way." Beast replied and the com was silent again.

I waved Colossus over to us. "You have to get her down there immediately, no waiting." I ordered. He nodded once and gathered her up, his skin still metallic and dashed for the stairs. A second later, Hank appeared through the shattered doors. "They're just ahead of you, go!" I shouted and he left without a word.

Logan looked at Sage and me and sighed. "Sage, get down to security central an' seal yourself in. Do not open that door for anyone 'cept me or Cyclops, understood?"

"No." She said simply and he quirked his eyebrow at her. "What good can I do down there?"

"You can stay _alive_, that's what you'll do. I don't have time to worry about coverin' ya."

"I can fight, you two saw to that. This is my home too, I have a right to help protect it!"

"An' you have a responsibility to follow orders, girl. Now go!"

She scowled but took off anyway. Now it was just the two of us. He opened his mouth to say something to me, but we both caught the unmistakable sound of an incoming rocket. "Down!" He barked even as he grabbed me and threw himself on top of me behind the dubious cover of one of the pillars that lined this part of the hall. A gaping hole surrounded by debris that had fallen from the room above had appeared and four soldiers rushed in through the gap. We sprang to our feet and engaged them immediately, showing no mercy to these men who were here on a useless mission. We got a bit separated during the melee and as I finished off the last one I was engaged with, I once again heard the sound of an incoming missile.

"Logan, look out!" I screamed as I dove for cover behind the huge pile of rubble from the first rocket. Logan dove in after me and the missile impacted the wall near where I'd been standing. I reached up to tap my earpiece for a situation report, only to discover that I'd lost it. It was all right though, because Logan still had his and had done the same. "What the fuck is going on?"

"I don't know!" He shouted back over the din of bullets and missiles that had suddenly taken over the near quiet of a few moments before.

"Where's the rest of the teams?" I asked, suddenly gripped by déjà vu.

"Beta's still out front, keepin' 'em busy with strike an' runs, Polaris is keepin' most o' the heavy ordnance out of it. Delta's on the roof keepin' the choppers busy. Alpha One is still out back an' the rest of Alpha Two's tryin' to outflank 'em again."

Bullets flew all around us, tracers making bright red lines in the dark that stung my eyes. My mind made a sudden connection at the same time as Logan's. "Holy shit, this is where it always started." I said and he nodded, knowing I was talking about Evie's dream. I shifted to my knees to get up. "The Director! He's upstairs, right now! And you, you have to get Colossus outside and stop that fucking Sentinel!"

"I thought you didn't want to leave me?" He said, his mouth quirking.

I smiled and stroked his cheek. "I don't, but _you_ have to go anyway." I smiled softly and took my hand away from his face. "I love you." I whispered, hoping this foreknowledge would save me in the end.

His expression softened a bit. "I know. I love you too, tiger." He grabbed me and kissed me hard enough to bruise my lips. "Now go! Get outta here an' find that bastard! No matter where you go, I'll find you. No matter what happens! I promise."

I nodded and swallowed around a lump in my throat as he reached out to stroke my cheek. Then he was on his feet, barking into the com for Colossus to get his ass outside as I took off up the stairs. I didn't know how much lead time I had on the guy, but I knew the Director was upstairs looking for someone who simply wasn't there. I hit the second floor hallway and dashed for my suite, praying that I was at least a few seconds ahead of the assault team. As I skidded around the corner, I realized I was still too late.

A man in army fatigues came stalking out of the door as I came to a halt, my claws springing out in preparation for a fight. I snarled involuntarily and he brought his weapon around, a light shining almost painfully in my face. "Where is she?" He demanded.

I laughed and started stalking forward. "You're too late, asshole. She's been gone nearly an hour. Once the jet went sub-orbital," I shrugged and smirked at him, "it could be anywhere by now."

"Stupid bitch! You're gonna pay for that!" His finger tightened on the trigger and instead of diving for the floor, I sprang straight up, twisting in the air just enough to come down right in front of him. I slashed his face with my left as I did the same to his groin with my right. He screamed in agony and went down, clutching himself. Loreena Bobbit had it right; some guys just don't deserve to have a dick.

My body tensed suddenly and I hit the floor in a roll as the bullet that had always taken me out in Evie's dream whistled past me close enough that I could feel the heat of it on my cheek. I came up and slashed the throat of the man holding the gun. He went down hard on his face, drowning in his own blood and I kicked the body over, hoping it was the man I wanted. It wasn't. A heartbeat later, pain tore through my body like fire and I looked down to see the hilt of an impossibly long knife buried in right side. My eyes traveled slowly upwards and behind me, taking in the hand, the arm, the shoulder and finally the face of the person holding it. My eyes widened in recognition and he jerked the blade out of me. "Too…late." I whispered as I felt myself slipping away.

"So I see, Hellcat." The Director replied with a sneer. "But if you tell me where she is now, I'll spare your life."

"Can't…kill me…for long." I said, clutching my side and falling to one knee. "Didja…forget…that part?"

"You can't live if your heart is missing. And I will cut that thing out of you if you don't give me what I want."

"Can't…give you…what I don't…have."

He narrowed his eyes. "You're lying."

I shrugged, then winced at the pain that lanced from the stab wound. "Makes you…feel…better to…believe that…go right ahead."

He frowned at me, then turned to someone behind him. "Take it from her." He snapped. Four soldiers that were positioned back there parted and a very pretty young girl with soft brown eyes and long red hair appeared, looking completely at home amongst all the carnage. She appeared to be about twelve years old, clad in the same type of military garb as the rest of the people here. She stood in front of me for a moment before raising her hands and placing them on either side of my head.

I've never felt anything like it, not even back in the Bad Old Days. The telepaths then were a slippery lot, but this little girl made them look just as headblind as I was. It felt like she had me in her grasp for hours, raping my memory for any sign of where my daughter was. And that's the only thing that comes close to the way it felt; rape. After all these years of Charles' comforting mental presence, I wasn't prepared for the creature before me. She ripped through my memories like they were paper, violating even the most intimate of my recollections. When she let go, I fell to the floor, gasping. "She knows what I am." The little girl stated.

"What?" The Director said, clearly unnerved. "How?"

"Her daughter, she's a precog. They knew we were coming, knew who I was. But she told the truth before. She doesn't know where the girl is. She made sure no one told her where they were taking her."

The Director swore under his breath and I laughed. "We…changed it…asshole." I said, grinning in spite of my impending doom. "You'll never…find her."

"And you'll pay for that, bitch!" He shoved Phoenix aside and knelt down next to me, his knife poised above my heart. "Understand that it does pain me to have to do this. You were one of the greatest weapons I've ever forged. All you ever had to do was come home."

"I _am_ home," I whispered. He sneered at me and thrust the knife forward, but he had misjudged the placement by just a hair and hit one of my adamantium-covered ribs. Before he could rectify his mistake, his radio crackled to life. "Strike team to Director, the Sentinel is down, repeat the Sentinel is down. Fall back immediately!" He cursed again and looked at me, his eyes like black chips of ice in my failing vision. He brought the knife down mercilessly, missing my heart by less than a millimeter and gave it a vicious twist before pulling it out. "Next time, Hellcat, I will finish you. Unless you change your mind and come home where you belong." He stood up and strode down the hallway.

I couldn't breathe, his second stab wound deflating my lung even before he twisted it. I struggled to roll over, but found I didn't have the strength. I didn't realize I wasn't alone until I felt Phoenix touch my face. "I know what you're thinking, that you can save me. I don't need saved." She smiled at me, but it was cold, with no feeling behind it. "Goodbye." She turned her back and walked away.

I had to get out of the hallway, even if it took my last bit of strength. Thinking of everyone who had been hurt tonight, my lover, my absent daughter and my dead one, I rolled over and pulled myself along with my right arm, leaving a wide smear of blood on the floor as I went. I barely managed to get to the corner when I heard footsteps running towards me. I collapsed onto my face, too tired to care if it was friend or foe. A second later, I knew it was a friend. "Oh my stars and garters," Hank said and gently rolled me over. "Angela, what happened?"

"No time." I gasped, my voice sounding incredibly faint to my own ears. "Get me…to Logan."

"I'll get you downstairs and he can come to you." He gathered me up as gently as he could, paying no mind to my blood that stained his blue fur, turning it an absurd shade of purple. He took off at a smooth trot, but every step he took still sent shocks of pain through my body. We finally got to the infirmary and he laid me gently on an examination table. I mustered up enough strength to look around and see who else was there with me. Medusa was asleep, an I.V. stuck into her arm, but I knew about her. Iceman was sitting on a table, his leg splinted and cursing a blue streak. Jubilee was also laying on a table, a lump the size of a baby's fist on her forehead but otherwise ok. Kyro and Chasca sat side-by-side on a table, her left wing bound to her body while Kyro soothed her. And one table held a body covered with a sheet. Hank came back and started dressing the wound in my chest, busying himself trying to save me because he didn't know what else to do. I was dying and I knew that; I'm sure he did too. But he's a doctor and he would still try to save me and spare me the trouble of coming back again.

I pushed his hands away from me and gestured to the shrouded figure. "Who?" I asked.

Hank's mouth thinned as he continued to bandage me. "Peter…Phantom. Sentinel got him."

"Anyone…else?" Hank shook his head and I breathed a sigh of relief. It could have been so much worse, but even the loss of one was too many for me. "How's…the others?"

"No one made it unhurt, except Kitty and Logan. Colossus got caught with his steel pants down, took a minor gunshot to his left arm. Mostly cuts and bruises for the rest, a couple other gunshots but nothing life-threatening." He finally gave up his battle with my chest wound and contented himself to holding a mass of gauze sponges over the gaping hole. "We've asked Elixir to come back to help Sarah and Jubilee."

I nodded slightly, the motion making my head swim and I knew it wouldn't be much longer. I heard the infirmary doors open and the familiar footfalls of my lover followed by the comforting whirring of the Professor's wheelchair. Logan pushed Hank aside and placed his hand over the makeshift dressing, while grasping my hand with the other. "Hey tiger. What'd I tell you 'bout keepin' your head down all those years ago?"

"Not shot…stabbed." I said and smiled weakly. My hands felt like blocks of ice in Logan's warm ones and my smile wavered. "She…was here. Phoenix."

"We know. She's the one who took out the Professor earlier. Coulda killed him, but they wanted to get to Evie."

I hissed in pain again and he gripped my hand tighter. "Logan…we have…to go back…you know that…right?"

He clenched his jaw and nodded. "Yeah, I do." A tear slipped from the corner of his eye, but it wasn't a tear for me. It was for the thing we had to do, the thing we'd previously discarded.

I managed another small smile for him. "It's…what we…are Logan. P-prodigal…children…" His face swam out of focus before me and I died.

* * *

**AN:** DUN DUN DUH NUH NUH!! (That's supposed to be dramatic music)...:) There's a teensy little part of me that _almost_ wants to post the epilogue now too...but the bigger, really eeeevvvviiilllll part of me is gonna make you wait...:) And you can call go ahead and ask whatever you want in your reviews or whatever, but i'm not gonna tell you ANYTHING BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (That's supposed to be my evil laugh)...:) At any rate, special thanks to the usual suspects, especially Levanna, TnTornado and theNightEnchantress...it's you guys that keep me going!

**Now, if you DO want the epilogue sooner rather than later, i suggest that one of you who have been reading and not reviewing take the plunge now...i assure you, i'll post that epilogue as soon as i get the review...otherwise, you'll have to wait FOUR DAYS...can you handle it:)**


	27. Epilogue

Epilogue

(Logan)

I couldn't stop a tear from spilling down my cheek as I closed Angela's eyes before leaning over to kiss her. I could taste her blood on my lips and the animal in me raged to kill the monster who had done this to her. I'm not an idiot, I know what he wanted to do to her just by where the wound was. Had I been half a minute too slow in taking out that Sentinel, I would have buried my mate in the back of the garden where the other memorials stood. I held her hand for a little longer, grieving for her anyway because even one day apart while she's like that is one day too many for me. I ran a finger down the side of her face, then leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Come back to me tomorrow darlin'. I can't live without ya." I whispered softly.

After a few minutes, I turned to Xavier. "You heard what she said, right? What we have to do?"

He nodded. "Yes Logan, I did, but you will forgive me if I'm against the idea."

"I know. But it was one thing for her to see that kid in a dream. Now she's real an' they're usin' her for a weapon like they used us. I won't have it."

"Nor will I." He replied. "You'll need some time to prepare, even after Angela comes back to us tomorrow."

"Yeah. We'll need more'n you can imagine." I had an idea, something that just might work, but I'd need Angela's approval first. I kissed her forehead again and left the infirmary.

Miraculously, the Danger Room was unharmed by the battle, so Sage quickly programmed a fairly comfortable barracks for us to sleep in. Hank stayed with his patients all night, waking Jubilee every couple of hours to make sure her concussion didn't get the best of her. I stopped in the locker room long enough for a quick shower and went to find myself a cot with the others. I didn't think I'd be able to sleep at all, but I was out as soon as my head touched the pillow.

I woke up slowly, a familiar presence balanced on the cot with me and looked down to see Angela sleeping there peacefully. I smiled and breathed in her comforting scent, which caused her to stir. She rolled over and smiled at me as she wrapped an arm around my waist. "Good morning, lover." She whispered.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked, very confused.

"Almost two days. You took more damage than you told Hank about, didn't you?"

I smirked and nodded, knowing it was no use to lie about it. I'm not really sure how many gunshots I took that night, how many hits from frag grenades or the lasers from the Sentinel. When I'd been called down to the infirmary for Angela, I was still running on pure adrenaline, so ignoring my wounds had been easy. But my body betrayed me as soon as I left, no big deal here in the mansion but potentially fatal in the field. I chuckled bitterly at that thought. We hadn't even started our journey back and already I was thinking like a weapon. "I'm fine now. An' starvin'. What's a fella gotta do to get some food 'round here?"

"Typical man." She snorted. "If it's not your dick controlling your every move, it's your stomach." I laughed and she rolled off the side of the cot and held out her hand. "Come on lover, walk this way."

She sauntered ahead of me and I raised an eyebrow. "Darlin', if I walk that way, everyone's gonna think I'm gay."

"Smartass." She shot over her shoulder, but I followed her out of the makeshift barracks, making sure to watch her walk every step of the way. Damn, but that's a sexy walk.

We got upstairs to the kitchen, which was a bit worse for the wear but one of the refrigerators had survived the assault. She poked around in there and came out with three kinds of meat, two kinds of cheese, mustard, mayo and everything else to make a nice sandwich. She set them down on the only counter not shot to hell and reached for the bread. "How many do you want?"

"Just keep makin' 'em an' I'll tell ya when I'm done." She shook her head but set to her task and it was tempting to have her keep making sandwiches until there was no bread left, but that would have been a mean trick. I stopped her at three, which she handed to me on a plate with a cold beer she produced from the fridge, then set about making herself a couple and settling in across from me. "So, how'd you survive without your usual post-resurrection ritual?" I asked suggestively.

She waved at me, a dismissive gesture if I've ever seen one. "Oh, it was fine. You don't need to be awake for that part of you to work." She took a big bite of her sandwich and munched on it, while I just sat there staring. Was she saying what I thought she was saying? "What?" She asked, wide-eyed and innocent. I didn't buy it.

"Did you…I mean, you didn't really…while I was in a fuckin' coma?"

She looked at me blankly, then suddenly burst into laughter. "No, Logan, I didn't make love to you while you were out. But the look on your face? Oh gods, where's a camera when I need one?"

"Now I know for a fact that you ain't funny. Not even a little bit."

"I'm a riot and you know it." She shot back and went back to her sandwich. After we finished eating and cleaning up our mess – not that you'd be able to tell with the other mess – she took my hand and led me through the halls to the classroom we used for the strategy classes. Most of the wing had come through more or less intact, with only a few broken windows from the concussion of other explosions. She locked the door behind us and strolled over to the desk. "Our room's trashed along with most of the rest of them." She said as she perched on the edge.

I walked slowly up to her, placed my hands on her hips and looked down into her eyes. "So why are we here?"

"Making one of your fantasies come true." She said simply and pulled me down for a long kiss. She'd once sworn she'd never make love to me in our classroom, but our choices for privacy were pretty limited. We spent most of the day in there, trying every surface and coming up with some pretty creative ways to work around the computers.

We finally came back to ourselves as the sun was setting, lying on the floor in a tangle of sweaty limbs and mussed hair. There was something about the way she'd acted through it all, like this was the last time we'd ever get the chance to let go. I kissed her on top of the head and pulled her closer to me. "Darlin', what was all this about really?"

"I wanted to say goodbye." She said and I swear my heart stopped beating for a moment. I tensed and she looked up at me with a smile. "Not to you, Logan, I'll never do that again." She waved her hand at our surroundings. "To this place. This room, the school, the lawn. I wanted to say goodbye to my home."

"We're comin' back someday, you know that."

"I do. But when? How long will it take? Will everyone still be here or be the same when we return? And will we be coming back as heroes or villains?" She shook her head and looked down. "I don't know, neither do you. So I wanted to make sure that there was a supremely happy memory of this place before we leave."

At the word "memory", my idea came flooding back to me. "Angela, I have to ask you somethin'. It'll be hard to do an' I'm sure you won't want to, but it's really for the best."

"What?" She said, her eyes narrowing.

"When we go back, we can't let those people know about our kids here. But I think I have a way to keep 'em from findin' out."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I was right, she didn't want to do it. But once I explained everything to her, my reasons for it, she reluctantly agreed. We only had one other person to convince and that's how we found ourselves in the Professor's office two days later. He'd been fielding calls from the press since the attack, giving them a cover story for what had happened. He told everyone that a military helicopter had malfunctioned and crashed in the back of the mansion, bursting into flames. The heat caused the ammunition to ignite, which explained the damage to the school. Since we had a conveniently destroyed chopper back there – courtesy of Cyclops and Polaris – that was clearly military in origin, no one disputed his claim. I'm pretty sure Bennington helped in some way, but I don't have proof, just a gut feeling. But as I've said before, my gut's never steered me wrong.

Xavier looked tired and for the first time since I've known him, he was seriously showing his age. I found out later that when Phoenix shut him down and the Professor tried to fight back, she caused a series of tiny forebrain hemorrhages. These are bad enough in normal people, but in telepaths it can be sign of major trouble. I hoped he would be up to helping us with our plan. In spite of all that, he still sat in his chair as though it were a throne, his presence more than making up for his paralysis. Once we were all settled in with cups of coffee or tea, he asked what we wanted and we laid it all out for him.

"Chuck, you know how hard it is for me to let anyone in my head," I started, a bit of panic rising in the back of my mind. I squashed it with a mental slap and continued. "So you hafta know I-_we_ ain't askin' you to do this lightly."

"Perhaps if I knew what you wanted, I could tell you for certain one way or another." He replied dryly.

I nodded and plunged ahead. "Professor, Angela an' I want ya to take away the last ten years."

Of all the things I could have said, that was definitely the last thing he expected. His eyes widened even as he grew pale. "Logan, do you know what it is you're asking of me?"

"I do. But we don't want ya to strip it away, just…bury it, somewhere that no one would ever look. Put layers of false memories on top of it, so many layers that they get tired o' lookin'."

"But the last ten years? Your daughter is part of those years!"

"That's part of the reason you need to do this." Angela said. "Charles, Phoenix already saw her in my mind, so they know what she looks like. She's strong, more powerful than anything I've ever felt in my head before. But she didn't pay attention to much that didn't involve Evie, didn't see everything. Or everyone for that matter and that's why you need to do this."

"They got a way of givin' any mutant my healin' factor." I stated plainly. "They can make anyone a killin' machine all the way down to the adamantium. If they knew what some o' these kids are capable of on their own…" I trailed off and let him finish for me.

"He could have an army in no time, one that's already been trained by the best." He said and I nodded. He closed his eyes and looked down, warring with himself over what we were asking him to do. Ethically speaking, he'd never do it on his own. But we had a greater reason than the Director and Weapon X. They wanted to control us; we wanted to protect our family. "I can do it, certainly, but it will be very difficult, possibly painful."

"We don't care." Angela said. "You _have_ to do this. But we don't want you to erase the X-Men. They already know about the team and our involvement, so hiding the adults is pointless. This is for the children, to protect them."

"Even Evie?" He asked softly.

I looked away, unable to answer. Angela swallowed hard and I could smell the tears forming in her eyes. "Even Evie. I'm hoping that Phoenix will eventually forget what she saw in my mind, so if she goes back to find something it won't be there anymore. But you can make me believe that Evie is any other little girl, or make us believe that she died in infancy, whatever. I don't want to do it, but we have to protect our family." She didn't say it out loud, but we all knew she meant more than just our own little girl.

Xavier thought about it for a little longer, then nodded slowly. "Very well, I will do as you ask. I will include a password, something that you will not be aware of and that must be sent telepathically in order to work."

"So if someone says it out loud," I mumbled, "our memories won't come floodin' back. Nice."

"This will take some time and I'm sure you'll both hate me before I'm finished, but you can consider it done."

"Thank you Charles." Angela said and she meant it.

"Well, if we're going to do this, we best get started."

It took several weeks of near-constant conditioning, but eventually he did it. The last thing he erased was the memory of us having our memories erased, which of course we didn't know until much later, after everything else was all over. By the time he was done, we didn't even know that Xavier's was more than just the home base for the team. We honestly believed it was the headquarters for the X-Men and that we'd been recruited by Xavier to be on the team, with the occasional batch of kids with dangerous powers invited to learn control. It helped that Chuck didn't recall the students until after he was done and since they'd been sent to a safe house in Connecticutt, they wouldn't be back until we were already gone. The things he left in, however, were the most important.

He didn't make us forget Weapon X or what they did to us. He left our memories of the missions we'd done over the previous decade to destroy them from the outside intact. He kept heavily edited versions of most of the X-Men missions we'd gone on, everything from the Liberty Island incident for me to the search and rescue we did in Colorado. Most of all, he made sure Angela remembered Emma and that I remembered everything I had regained back before Evie was born. In a nutshell, he made us remember why we were going back, the new version. We wanted vengeance, we burned with it, and finally the time was right.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There was one piece of business we had to take care of before we left. I'd proposed to Angela, impulsively, recklessly, but she'd accepted all the same. After so many years of saying we didn't need to, I had suddenly wanted to and asked her. I wanted to wait, give her a proper ceremony and everything, but since we were planning on throwing ourselves back into hell, I was tempted to make sure we were completely and legally married in advance. I'd been weighing both options for days, but it still took me by surprise when Xavier called us into his office just a few days before we were scheduled to leave.

"Hey Professor, what's up?" Angela said as brightly as she could, taking a seat on the sofa. I took a seat next to her, my arm slung over her shoulders.

"I know the two of you are getting ready to leave in a couple of days." He said and we nodded. He knew all of this, so why were we here? "Before you go, I have a couple of gifts for you." He handed us each a tiny, black velvet box. We opened them and gasped at what we saw. Inside were wedding bands, gleaming brightly in the morning light. We looked at him curiously, since we'd planned on picking out our own. "These were made by…a good friend of mine. They're adamantium."

I scowled. "How the hell didja get the prison guards to let ya in the same room with Magneto an' this much metal at the same time?"

He chuckled, which confused me. "Erik is not the only friend I have who can work with metal. The young man in question insisted on making these for you when he found out you were engaged. It seems he's…quite a fan of the pair of you."

"So some X-Men groupie made these?" Angela asked, clearly skeptical.

Xavier nodded. "Something of the sort, yes. At any rate, he sends his well-wishes to you for a long and happy life together."

I shrugged and snapped the box closed. "Well, next time ya talk to him, tell him we said thanks."

I stood up, but the Professor stopped me. "Don't be hasty, Logan. There's a reason I gave those to you now rather than later." I lowered myself back to the sofa. "I think it would be wise if you were to take your vows before you go."

Angela narrowed her eyes. "How come?"

His face grew solemn. "The two of you are about to walk into a great darkness that I cannot begin to imagine. Would it not be better to walk into it with something that you can use to remember when you were still in the light?"

When he put it that way, it made sense. So, later that evening, we gathered on the newly-repaired patio and I made Angela my wife, witnessed by the Professor and the remaining X-Men, with Kurt performing the ceremony as he had for Storm and Atlas. The only thing missing was Evie and thinking of her caused my heart to clench painfully in my chest. But Xavier surprised us further by handing us a keycard to the Regency Park hotel in New York City and assuring us it was paid up for the next two days. We smiled and thanked him and went on the only honeymoon we would have for a long time. We spent those days worshipping each other, memorizing every line, every curve, just in case they tried to separate us when we turned ourselves in. I didn't think they would; we were the best team they'd ever had and they'd be fools to split us up. But, you know…just in case.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Three days later, Cyclops dropped us out of Blackbird Three several thousand feet above a place in southern Nevada, reported to be the secret facility known as Area 51. We had to tandem jump, because for all that she's like a cat and always lands on her feet, Angela has an almost psychotic fear of heights. Oh, she's fine on a mountaintop or the highest branches of a tree, but once you take away the concept of "attached to the ground", she panics to the point of freezing. I wasn't complaining though. I had suggested trying it naked, so we could put regular mile-high club members to shame. I'm still not sure how I survived her attack, but I did. That's my wife.

We landed well clear of the actual base, where we removed our jumpsuits and parachute, burying both deep in the desert sand. We had nothing else with us except two canteens of water each. We felt it was important that we arrive much the same as we had when they originally "recruited" us, with little more than the clothes on our backs. It wouldn't – and didn't – save us from days of examinations to make sure we didn't have tracking devices implanted in our bodies, but it would at least show that we weren't armed with anything other than our natural weapons. We traveled about three klicks on foot before a Humvee full of regular military stopped us at gunpoint. "Hey, this is government property, asshole." Said a guy whose stripes indicated he was a sergeant.

"No shit Dick Tracy." I replied, my hands over my head. Angela was pinned in much the same position, only the two asswipes that had her were looking her over in a way that really made me angry. I clenched my teeth to tamp it down. "Get on your fuckin' radio an' tell the Director that Hellcat an' Wolverine surrender."

The soldiers looked at each other, then burst out laughing. "The hell you talking about, moron? They're just military urban legend, never existed."

"Oh yeah?" I popped my claws and the four of them all but shit their pants right there. They looked over at Angela, who now had her claws out as well, with the sweetest smile on her face you've ever seen. "Now, like I said. Get on the horn an' tell the Director we surrender. He'll understand."

The sergeant nodded and motioned for the others to keep us covered, then went back to the oversized vehicle. He emerged a few minutes later, several shades whiter and sweating much more than even the desert heat could account for. "Uh, yeah. So, he says we're to bring you in, but to kill you if you try anything."

"We won't," Angela replied, slowly lowering her hands, "we're giving up. We're coming home."

The End

(for now)

* * *

**AN: **Well, there it is...the end of this chapter of the saga...the good news is, the next one is in the works...:) The bad news? I'm nowhere NEAR finished with it yet...but, if you all need a fix, i am currently posting another story, unrelated to this series, called "Headhunter"...if you're a Dean Koontz fan, you'll probably recognize the majority of the main characters...:) I want to thank everyone who read this story and the others...i hope you've been having as much fun as i am...but i especially want to thank my reviewers, ALL of you, for letting me know you're there and that you like it...and i would be amiss if i didn't extra special thank ALEX10671S, Levanna and Nataku's Wrath for reviewing the last chapter...:) NW: As you can see, there HAS to be another piece in the saga...otherwise, this is a downright awful place to leave things:) Oh, and Dee? I know it's not what you probably had in mind for the wedding, but i promise that will be rectified at some point near the end of the next story...:) It's in my notes, after all, if the damn muse will just let me stick to them!

**Thanks everyone for sharing this with me!**


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